Love on the Battlefield
by KateMarie999
Summary: A series of very fluffy one-shots about Hiccup and Astrid's relationship.
1. Best Laid Plans

_FLUFFY HICCSTRID! I JUST HAD TO DO IT! FEEL THE FLUFF!_

_I was __**commanded**__ to write this. Not asked, commanded. I ran this idea past __**Miss Pookamonga **__and she swooned at the idea so much she literally told me I had to write this. Well my dear friend… I shall. Yes I shall. Here are a series of one-shots that are in my Kara canon (however these are before she is born so you don't have to read them to know what's going on- however it's highly encouraged). They're not in any particular order but this is the one I was commanded to write so I'll start with this one._

* * *

**Best Laid Plans**

"Hiccup!"

Astrid Hofferson opened her front door with so much gusto, it managed to hit her boyfriend squarely in the nose. Both his hands flew to the newly injured area.

"Seriously, Astrid? I've been here for less than 5 seconds and you're already trying to cause me bodily harm?" asked Hiccup, smiling despite the throbbing pain.

"I'm so sorry!" Astrid exclaimed, looking very embarrassed. "I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay!" Hiccup laughed, taking his hands off his nose. "Am I disfigured?"

"Well yes, but your _nose_ is just fine." Astrid quipped, crossing her arms and looking down at Hiccup's prosthetic leg.

"Oh very funny. Haven't heard that one before." Hiccup rolled his eyes but couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"So what are you doing here? Not that I'm not ecstatic to see you." Astrid winked.

"It's a surprise." said Hiccup, trying to look mysterious (and failing so badly that Astrid had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing).

"I hate surprises." Astrid said, narrowing her eyes at him.

Hiccup's grin faded slightly. "Oh…"

"I'm kidding, Hiccup."

Hiccup brightened up again. "Oh! Well come on then!"

"We're going _now_?" Astrid raised an eyebrow at the excited Viking in front of her.

"Yes! Come on!" Hiccup grabbed Astrid's arm but she didn't budge. Much to his embarrassment, he couldn't _make _her move either.

"Where are you taking me?" Astrid asked, very much enjoying watching Hiccup's struggle.

"I don't want to ruin it." Hiccup stared at her as though willing her to comply.

Astrid stared into his eyes. They were shining with excitement. It was obvious that he was more excited than he had ever been with her, even when his father had given him a whole academy several years ago (she remembered _that_ day very well). If she was being honest with herself, she actually wanted to know what Hiccup's surprise was. But she knew that tormenting him with the possibility that she might not comply would make him _beg _her to come. And could she help it if she found that adorable?

"Oh all right." Astrid said, acting as though she was reluctant to follow the young Viking into the village.

Hiccup did a sort of happy skip and grabbed her hand. Astrid had to wonder what on earth could make him this hyperactive but she knew that, in time, he would probably end up blurting out some very exciting news. Eloquence wasn't a gift of his. Neither was subtlety.

The boy led her to a beach nearby. She wondered why in the world he was this excited about a beach but she knew better than to question anything. So help her, if he wanted to go swimming with her in this frigid weather, she would hit him. Again.

"So why are you taking me here?" Astrid asked at last, unable to contain her curiosity.

"Well… Astrid I wanted to…"

"Hiccup!" called a very familiar voice.

The two of them turned around. Stoick stood there, looking very cross about something. Even though she had gotten to know him so much better over the years, Astrid thought he still looked intimidating.

"Hey dad. Kind of having a moment…" Hiccup began but Stoick cut him off.

"Plenty of time for that when you get those dragons under control!" Stoick boomed, still looking down on them.

Hiccup looked incredibly put out about something. "Can it wait?"

"No, Hiccup, it can't. A herd of Terrible Terrors has gotten into the food supply and Gobber and I can't get them out." He held up a burned hand. "We've tried everything."

Hiccup sighed deeply. "I'll take care of it. But after that, can I have some alone time with…"

"Astrid!" called yet another voice.

"Oh boy…" said Hiccup, more to himself than to Astrid.

The large form of Gobber came hobbling toward them, carrying a rather large battle axe that he was brandishing dangerously close to Stoick's face.

"It's all right, I already told Hiccup about the…"

"I wasn't going to say anything. Though if you could take care of those Terrible Terrors, I know I'd owe you one. I was actually here to see Astrid." Gobber exclaimed, looking excited about something. "I made those battle axes you designed. They work perfectly!"

"Really?" Astrid perked up. "Can I try one?"

"Oh yeah!" Gobber tossed the axe he was carrying to Astrid.

Hiccup was beginning to look very frustrated. "Look, I will take care of that in just a minute, now if you all could just…"

"Wow, this axe is perfect! I told you the change in design would make all the difference!"

Now Astrid began brandishing the axe dangerously close to Hiccup. He took a few steps back but his brow furrowed. He was going to do what he had to do and no one was going to stop him.

"Forget about the axe, we need those Terrible Terrors out of the food storage!" Stoick shouted.

Just then Hiccup and Astrid were hit with a blast of freezing water. Some very familiar laughter began to come from a point slightly above them.

"Ruffnut! Tuffnut!" Astrid shrieked, now aiming her axe at the twins, who were perched on small cliff just over their heads and holding a very large, empty bucket.

"I knew that was gonna work!" Tuffnut smacked his sister's shoulder.

"But it was _my _idea!" Ruffnut smacked him back.

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Guys, if you could all just stop…" Hiccup tried to say, starting to look desperate.

"Now if you cup your hand around the handle this way, you'll get way more maneuverability." Gobber was saying to Astrid.

"Hiccup! If you don't take care of those dragons soon, they'll eat everything!" Stoick bellowed, pointing toward the village.

"Hey Hiccup, Toothless looks hungry, I think you should feed him." Fishlegs walked up to the already chaotic scene.

"I'll get to that in a minute!" Hiccup was saying to his father, now grabbing of a handful of his own hair in frustration.

"But he's started following _me _now! It's not my fault; I don't give him that many treats!" Fishlegs whined.

"Then feed him yourself!" Hiccup exclaimed, now grabbing handfuls of his hair with both hands.

"But he's always happier when you do it!"

Just then, Tuffnut fell on the sand on his back inches away from where Astrid was standing. Ruffnut was laughing rather maniacally.

"That's what you get for trying to steal my idea!" she was saying.

"Hiccup, about the Terrible Terrors…"

"If we mass produce these axes, we could give the Berserkers a run for their money!"

"Toothless keeps nudging me with his head, Hiccup, I already have one dragon, I don't want another one!"

"EVERYBODY OUT!" Hiccup roared. "OUT! OUT! I WANT TO BE ALONE WITH ASTRID TO ASK HER TO MARRY ME!"

The talking ceased as everyone turned to look at Hiccup, who was suddenly looking mortified.

"No!" he cried, burying his face in his hands. "No! Now you've ruined everything!"

"Uhh Hiccup…" Astrid said, tossing the axe aside and walking up to him.

"I wasn't going to do it this way! I had a plan! And now you've all come in to mess it all up!" Hiccup bellowed, wildly gesticulating.

"Hiccup… yes…"

"Is it too much to ask for a moment of peace? Do I really have to tell everyone on Berk my plans so you all won't come and interrupt everything?"

"Hiccup, I said yes…"

"Now everything is ruined and I won't get to execute the plan I spent _weeks _working on!"

"Yes, Hiccup!"

Several Vikings with instruments were walking up to the beach.

"Forget it!" Hiccup called to them, his face going red with anger. "The moment is ruined."

"Are we still getting paid?" asked one of the musicians.

"Yes, you're still getting paid." Hiccup said exasperatedly before turning back to the others, who were still staring at him, dumbstruck. "Now that the moment is gone, I'll go take care of those stupid dragons for you, dad, and then maybe I can try to fix things with… owww!" Hiccup cried out as Astrid's fist collided with his shoulder. "What was that for?"

"Not listening to me!" Astrid said very calmly.

"Look, Astrid, I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you!"

"Oh shut up, I said yes!"

Now it was Hiccup's turn to look shocked. "Yes?"

"Yes, I will marry you." Astrid grinned at the look of incredulity on his face as the impact of her words sunk in.

"You… you will?" he finally sputtered.

Astrid aggressively grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him up to her so their faces were centimeters apart.

"Y-E-S, Hiccup." she said, staring pointedly into his eyes.

"Oh… uhh… th-thank you." Hiccup stammered.

Astrid laughed and planted a kiss on his lips, which were slightly parted in surprise. It took him a moment to figure out what was going on and reciprocate the kiss. His body weakened slightly and Astrid had to hold him up to keep him from falling over.

"Okay…" he said when they finally parted, his knees shaking. "I believe you now."

"Well… uhh… on second thought, I'm sure I can take care of those Terrible Terrors." Stoick said at last, winking at his son.

"And I'll feed Toothless tonight." said Fishlegs, grinning at the couple.

"Come on, Gobber." Stoick said to his friend, beckoning for him to follow them.

"But… the axes…"

"They can wait." Stoick commanded as Gobber reluctantly walked away, taking the new axe with him.

"I'm not sticking around to watch this!" Tuffnut shuddered in disgust.

"Yeah me neither." said Ruffnut and the twins scampered away, leaving the newly-engaged couple alone.

Hiccup and Astrid stood in silence for a while, staring at the retreating backs of their friends. Astrid finally turned to him.

"So what did you have planned?" she asked, unable to resist.

"Oh it was perfect. Those musicians were going to play soft music while I asked you to marry me and then we were going to take a ride on Toothless or Stormfly, whoever was closest, to watch the sunset from above the clouds." Hiccup sighed. "I guess we can still take the ride."

Astrid met his gaze and the two lingered for just a moment. "I liked what you just did a lot better."

"What?"

"It was more… _you_."

Hiccup stared at her for a moment, his mouth agape. "So… blurting it out in the height of frustration is a more… me thing to do than something elegant and romantic?"

"Yep." Astrid grinned. "It's one of the many reasons I love you."

Hiccup finally smiled, his face, which had just recovered from his angry outburst, going red again.

"Come on." He said, taking her hand and leading her toward the village. "If we hurry, we can still watch the sunset from above the clouds."

"Nope." said Astrid. "We have the rest of our lives to do that. Let's take care of those Terrible Terrors first."

Hiccup laughed at last. "Now _that, _Astrid, is why I love you."

And, walking hand-in-hand, the two Vikings made their way back to the village.

* * *

_And that's my fluffy Hiccstrid one-shot for you all. Leave a review telling me what you liked! I have a few ideas…_


	2. Under the Weather

_Another fluffy Hiccstrid one-shot? Already? You bet! I got the idea at work and actually burst out laughing at the thought. This will be fun. I was inspired by myself and how I've been a bit under the weather so I started to think about possibilities in our favorite dragon-filled universe. The end result was this story. Enjoy!_

**Under the Weather**

"Hiccup! Hiccup!" Astrid Hofferson called, banging on her fiancé's front door. "Hiccup! Open the door!"

"Go away." came a weak voice from inside.

"No! I'm not leaving until you explain why you didn't show up at the academy today!" Astrid shouted, pretty sure that the whole village could hear her now.

"Hang on."

A few seconds later, a very tired-looking Hiccup answered the door. His nose was bright red but the rest of his face was pale. His eyes were only half open and they were barely focused on Astrid.

"Good _Thor_, you look awful!" she exclaimed.

"Thank you, Astrid." Hiccup said sardonically, his voice very weak and his shoulders slumping. "Can you take over for the next few days at the academy? I'm not exactly up to it."

Astrid stared at him for a moment before a small smile brightened her face. "Nope. I'm going to take care of you!"

"Wha… no, Astrid, really…"

"Oh shut up and lie back down. I'll make everything all better." She motioned for him to lie down on the couch and her fiancé reluctantly complied.

"I'm not sure this is a good…" Hiccup began but was interrupted by his own large sneeze.

"Of course it's a good idea. This will be fun!" Astrid's grin widened.

"That's what I was afraid of." Hiccup sniffled loudly. "I think I just need some sleep."

"All in good time, Hiccup. First, let me make you some soup! My mom always says feed a cold and starve a fever… or is it the other way around… doesn't matter, I'm going to make that soup." Astrid hopped to her feet and went over to the fire. "Where do you keep the pans?"

"In the third cupboard from the left." Hiccup replied, closing his eyes and hoping merciful sleep would take over soon.

"I don't see it." she called seconds later.

"Did you move stuff around?" he asked, not moving from his position, which was just starting to get comfortable.

"Yes, I'm moving stuff around. I don't see it."

Hiccup sighed deeply and got up. He sauntered over to Astrid, who was digging around in the cupboard.

"Right there." he said, pointing to a pan that had fallen out of the cupboard when she first opened it.

"Oh thanks." Astrid said, grabbing it. "Hey… lie back down!" she pointed to the couch. "You're supposed to be relaxing."

"Relaxing… right." Hiccup said irritably, sensing that relaxation was going to be impossible with his rather forceful fiancée taking over his recovery.

He closed his eyes again, begging the gods for sleep, when he heard a loud hissing noise. He opened his eyes yet again and watched in amusement as Astrid attempted to add the ingredients to the pan while keeping it in the fire. It was obvious that she had never made soup before. He grimaced, remembering the yak-nog and hoped that this, at least, would stay down.

"Why do I put up with this?" he muttered to himself, pulling up the covers to keep himself warm. "Oh that's right. I've been in love with her my whole life. I need help."

A truly revolting smell seeped through the house a few minutes later. He heard Toothless, who had been snoozing in his room, bolt from the house through the roof and wished he could be so lucky.

"Soup's ready!" Astrid announced.

It took every fiber of Hiccup's being not to turn his head away from the pan of soup she was holding. Not only did it smell terrible, it was smoking and making a dangerous sort of crackling noise.

"Oh… thank you, Astrid. It looks… edible." he knew even that was stretching the truth but his beloved didn't seem to catch on.

Astrid grabbed a nearby bowl (not thinking to check to see if it was clean) and poured the soup into it. The crackling continued the smoke was beginning to get even thicker. That pungent smell was getting so strong, his eyes began to water and he wondered if she was secretly trying to poison him.

She handed him the bowl but it was so hot, his reflexes kicked in and he spilled the soup all over himself, the couch, and the floor.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Ow. OW! Hot soup! Ow!" he began feverishly blowing on the burning liquid that had spilled all over his chest.

"Oh Hiccup, I'm sorry!" Astrid cried, grabbing a nearby cloth and attempting to mop up the spilled soup. "I'll make some more!"

"No! No… I'm not hungry." Hiccup lied, trying desperately to retain his composure.

"Then I'll sing to you! _Soft sheep, warm sheep_…" Astrid began singing horrendously off key.

"No! I don't… I think what I need is quiet, Astrid." Hiccup held up a hand to his head. "I'm getting a headache."

"Oh." she looked as though she had been deflated. "Do you want me to leave?"

The honest answer was yes but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. "It's okay. You can stay. Just… can we be quiet?"

Astrid nodded. Hiccup finally closed his eyes, determined to fall asleep. But he was only still for about two seconds.

"Budge up a bit." Astrid commanded, gently pushing him over.

"What?"

She lifted the blanket and lay down next to him.

"What are you doing? You'll get sick." Hiccup whispered to her.

"I know." she whispered back.

He felt his face go hot and suspected that it had nothing to do with his illness. He gently placed his arms around her and took a deep breath, smelling the flowery aroma of her hair. The heat radiating off her body warmed him up on the inside. Holding her close, he closed his eyes once more and drifted off to blissful sleep, dreaming of a lifetime with the Viking woman he loved so much.

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. Please review! I'm willing to take some requests if I like the ideas enough so feel free to add anything you would like to see in addition to what you liked about this! Also, I'm sure some people will pick up the two TV references I made in this. See if you can figure out what they are!_


	3. Transcendence

_Hey everyone!_

_So I've been begged for more updates. Unfortunately, I haven't had that many ideas so this is only going to get updated when I get ideas. Now you're free to suggest them either through PM or a review but when it comes down to it, I do want this to be my own._

_That being said, this particular update isn't necessarily as fluffy as the other two (but I did promise fluff so there will be some) but I think it's as important. It was inspired after my college and career Bible study group watched How to Train Your Dragon as part of the lesson. A great discussion followed it and they said that HTTYD is a wonderful example of Jesus' commandment to love your neighbor as yourself and it's also a great character study because it shows that friendship can create confidence in a person and bring around a change you might not expect._

_They did bring up a rather good negative point though. They said that Hiccup randomly decided that dragons were good without any outside help. It works for the movie and it's not that big an issue but they did want a "burning bush" scene or something that made Hiccup really question whether or not dragons were evil rather than just his own gut. I realized that bits and pieces from other areas of the franchise can solve that problem if you think about it the right way. So I decided to write this Hiccstrid one-shot to address and solve those issues using the TV show and specials. I certainly won't make this one-shot super religious because Hiccup and Astrid aren't really that religious to begin with. Aside from building that statue of Thor in the one episode, I've yet to see them show any reverence to any gods at all. And I have to keep them in character; apparently I'm good at that._

_Now that I've said all that, I think I should also tell you that this one-shot takes place directly after the events of HTTYD and before any of the subsequent specials or episodes of the show. So Hiccup and Astrid are not engaged at this point. Don't worry, I'll probably do a time jump so they will be in the next one-shot!_

_This is dedicated to the college and career group at my church! You guys are great! Thanks for accepting me with open arms and giving me something to look forward to every Sunday! _

_~KateMarie999_

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"Vikings have a strong sense of community. It's important for us to be part of a family and to celebrate that connection. A family isn't just something you're born into. It's also the friends who stood with you, the ones who fought by your side. You know that you'll be there for them and they'll be there for you for the battles that are yet to come." -Hiccup

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**Transcendence**

The sun's rays were barely visible now. It had been hours since Hiccup had woken up from his near death experience and the long rides on Toothless made him feel even more alive than ever before. Perhaps it was the loss of his foot that reminded him how short and precious life truly was. And perhaps it was the fact that Astrid had continued to fly with him even when everyone else finally had enough. Hiccup half hoped he'd get a second kiss but to go for it would most definitely result in her fist colliding with his face. And that, added to the thankfully dull throbbing in his leg, would probably be extremely uncomfortable.

It was almost surreal seeing the other Vikings brighten up when they saw him flying above them. It wasn't a false thing anymore. Finally he could be honest with them. And the fact that several Viking children tossed Toothless and Astrid's Deadly Nadder some fish as they flew by made his heart soar. The community had accepted dragons wholeheartedly and he kept seeing the evidence of that acceptance everywhere he looked. One very old Viking has scowled at him as he flew by but Hiccup didn't worry about that. He couldn't expect everyone to love him now.

After hours of flying with the girl who had helped him so much, Hiccup and Astrid finally landed on a cliff facing the sea. The horizon was purple as the last rays of the sun were disappearing. The two young Vikings dismounted and both dragons made a funny warbling noise, both lying down next to their new owners.

"So…" said Astrid, looking over at her new friend. "I bet you're feeling fantastic. You've changed everyone's lives."

Hiccup shrugged, stretching out on his back to stare up at the stars. "I guess so. I didn't really think about it that way."

Astrid lay down next to him. She was awfully close but he didn't mind it one bit. The two were silent for a while, enjoying the companionship of each other and their dragons.

"I've been thinking about something you said two weeks ago." Astrid said, breaking the silence once again. "About how you wouldn't kill a dragon."

Hiccup turned to look at her. "I was out for _two weeks_? You sure you don't mean hours?"

Astrid laughed, shaking her head. "Why do you think I hit you so hard?"

So _that's_ why his leg didn't hurt as badly as he thought it should. He stared at the prosthetic foot, unsure if he'd ever get used to it.

"As I was saying," Astrid continued, looking back up at the stars. "You went from saying you couldn't kill a dragon to that you wouldn't kill a dragon. I get why you couldn't, you've always been kind of… umm…"

"Kind of what?"

Astrid did a halfhearted gesture toward him.

"You just gestured to all of me." said Hiccup, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Oh don't start that again." Astrid smiled sheepishly. "You know what I mean."

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah I think so."

"I remember what you said. You looked at Toothless and you saw yourself. I really get that. I kind of see it in Stormfly too."

"Stormfly?"

"That's what I'm going to call her." Astrid said, grinning and stroking her Nadder's chin. "Don't change the subject. You've been raised to hate and to kill dragons your whole life. I think there's more to the story than that."

Hiccup looked over at Toothless, who was now lying down on his back. "Well at first it was just me being too scared to kill him. I'd been told my whole life that I wasn't a killer and I guess… I guess I just started to believe it. And become what I thought I was. What everyone thought I was."

"So that's why you couldn't kill him. Why wouldn't you?" Astrid asked.

"Well… he could have killed me. But he didn't. And Gobber had said that dragons always go for the kill so, obviously, it was kind of a mixed message. But it's not just that. I thought about Bork. I mean… he spent his life studying dragons, only killing them when he absolutely had to. And he died of a snakebite. After being around dragons his whole life, they never killed him. It just didn't add up." Hiccup stared at a twinkling star in the sky, thinking about what exactly had gone on in his mind that day. "And then I thought about Snoggletog."

"Snoggletog? What does Snoggletog have to do with dragons?" Astrid turned on her side, studying him closely.

He hoped she didn't notice how red his face was becoming.

"Nothing, actually. At least not yet. This should be an interesting year." Hiccup laughed. "It's all about peace on earth, good will toward everyone. I started to wonder why we always talked about showing everyone good will but we didn't extend that to the dragons." He turned to face her. "That's when I decided I _wouldn't_ kill Toothless. That I would study him like Bork did."

"And you've changed everything now." Astrid poked him in the shoulder.

"Yeah… I have. It's going to take a while to get used to not being the village idiot." Hiccup turned to look at Astrid now. "So what changed your mind?"

Astrid raised her eyebrow at him. "What changed my mind about what?"

"Well before our little episode with Toothless, you never gave me a second thought. And today you… you know." He _really _hoped she didn't see how red his face was becoming now.

"I kissed you?" Astrid suppressed a giggle. "Are you always going to be this awkward?"

"Yeah, probably." Hiccup scratched the back of his head. "Is that going to be a problem?"

Astrid narrowed her eyes and gave him a sly smile, effectively dodging the question.

"Well…" Hiccup said, breaking the silence that was becoming increasingly awkward with the face she was making at him. "What changed?"

Astrid sighed, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. "I always kind of thought you were nothing but a clumsy oaf."

"Gee thanks, Astrid." said Hiccup sarcastically, earning himself a smack on the shoulder.

"Well I wanted to be honest. But after you met Toothless and started doing better with all those dragons, you became kind of a threat. I was forced to respect you. I didn't _want _to respect you but I had to." Astrid stared at the grass for a moment. "Then when we took that ride on Toothless… I saw a whole new side to you."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I guess it was more than confidence. I just saw a completely different Hiccup. And I liked him. I want to see more of him." Astrid winked at him.

Hiccup, looked down at the grass, hoping that she wouldn't notice the fact that his hands were now trembling slightly or that his face was redder than it had ever been.

"We… we should probably, you know…" he stammered.

"Yeah, probably. You're right." She agreed, standing up. "Need any help?"

"I can manage." said Hiccup, standing up. "Why are you just standing there?"

She smiled knowingly. He stood up, took two steps forward, and fell sideways onto her.

"Okay…" he said, feeling very warm all of a sudden. "I get it now."

Astrid laughed, helping him stand up on his prosthetic leg.

"I bet this whole losing a foot thing makes me much more… manly, doesn't it?" Hiccup looked at her, his eyebrows raised.

It was Astrid's turn to blush now. "Oh shut up."

She helped him over to Toothless. He reached over to push himself up but she yanked on his arm, forcing him back down.

"Wha…" was all he was able to say before she gave him a peck on the nose. "Oh…" he smiled, his face feeling extremely hot. "What was that for?"

Astrid turned away and quickly swung her leg over Stormfly. She turned back to him.

"You figure it out."

Two sets of wings stretched out as both dragons ascended into the sky. As they flew into the clouds, Hiccup glanced over at Astrid, whose eyes were closed and arms were outstretched, and suddenly knew exactly why she had kissed him.


	4. Heat of the Moment

_Hello again!_

_I can't believe how popular this series has gotten. 15 followers and favorites and I only posted this less than a week ago. I'm so flattered that everyone seems to like these one-shots so much because they're a lot of fun to write. I'm almost abandoning my other stories to give you your supply of adorable fluff._

_Yet again, I decided to deviate a bit from the timeline. Yes I said I'd be writing more about them being engaged but this idea came to me and it doesn't fit into that timeline. So this is a bit earlier as well._

_In addition to the fact that I decided to set this one-shot a little early, I'm going to be hunted down by __**Miss Pookamonga**__ for writing this because it's basically a one-shot that follows the events of Thawfest, effectively taking away yet another direction she can go with that episode in her series. Sorry, Pooka!_

_Also I apologize to those who have read this already under a different title. I changed it because I think this one is better.  
_

_And without further ado… here you go!_

_~KateMarie999_

**Heat of the Moment  
**

Astrid was starting to take for granted that Stormfly always knew the right place to go at the right time. As she flew on the back of her magnificent Deadly Nadder, she closed her eyes and allowed her other senses to heighten, to take in the sounds and smells of the fresh air hundreds of feet above the village.

In what felt like no time at all, she was on the side of her favorite cliff on the island. She had especially picked it because it had the best view of the sea. It was also completely secluded on the other side of the island so she wasn't likely to be interrupted. It had become her hideout, the place to go when she wanted to be alone with Stormfly and process everything she was thinking and feeling. The Thawfest games had left no time for her to be alone and she was starting to get antsy with the constant crowds pressing in on her from all sides. She sat down, dangling her feet over the edge, and knew that if she lost her balance, Stormfly would catch her before she hit the ground. Having a dragon around had given her a new sense of adventure and a more than a little bit of recklessness. She took off her metal shoulder pads, which were beginning to feel very heavy and uncomfortable.

"Feeling better?" she asked Stormfly, gently stroking the dragon's head. "It's a little overwhelming, isn't it? You were _great _in the games."

Stormfly gently placed her head on Astrid's lap and closed her eyes, enjoying the sunshine from the sky and the company of her favorite human. Astrid smiled, already feeling her head clear up. It was as though the cool, clean air had revived her. She got out the small dagger she always carried and found a nice branch from one of the trees. Perhaps the branch would make a good spear. She would have to talk to Gobber or Hiccup about making the metal tip.

She began to slice away strips of the wood. She enjoyed watching the shavings flutter away with the wind and slowly fall to the ground far below her. There was something oddly satisfying about the way her dagger sliced the wood and shaped it into what she wanted. She had always found it fascinating. The small noises it made seemed to magnify in the silence and she was really starting to relax.

_Snap!_

Astrid jumped, violently startled, and pitched her dagger backward in the direction from which she heard the sound. She turned around just in time to see a very startled Hiccup and her dagger inches away, lodged in a branch.

"_Gods_, Hiccup!" she shouted, her heart still thumping in her chest. "Do _not _sneak up on me like that! I could have killed you!"

Hiccup, who was trembling slightly at the near miss, smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

The two of them stared awkwardly at one another for a minute, Astrid surveying Hiccup suspiciously, as though he might be an imposter, and Hiccup still smiling, hoping it would cover up the fact that he was still getting over his momentary terror. He reached over and pulled the dagger from the tree.

Astrid finally broke the silence. "How did you find me? We're nowhere near the village."

Hiccup, glad that the momentary awkwardness was assuaged at last, shrugged. "I like to come here with Toothless sometimes. It's really peaceful and quiet."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "You have _got _to be kidding me."

"Umm… no. Why?"

"I come here to for the same reason." she sighed. "Figures."

"Oh…" Hiccup looked over at Toothless, who was standing behind him and looking between the two Vikings curiously. "We can go, if you want."

Astrid took a deep breath and finally smiled. "No. You're already here. Stay a while." She patted the ground next to her.

Hiccup edged forward, as though afraid she might suddenly command her dozing dragon to attack him, and sat down by her side, dangling his feet over the cliff. Toothless lay down behind him, allowing them both to lean on his scaly back.

The two of them were silent for a while. Hiccup handed Astrid her dagger and she whittled away at the wood, enjoying the company of her closest friends without feeling the need to say anything. She glanced over at Hiccup, who was closing his eyes and basking in the sunlight of the unusually warm day.

"You proved me right." she said at last, nudging her friend in the ribs.

"What about?" he asked, not moving.

"About being a gracious loser." she replied, still studying his face in the way she usually reserved for studying the best crafted swords at the forge.

Hiccup finally opened his eyes and turned to face her. "I keep telling you, I have no idea what you're talking about. Snotlout was just the better Viking." He winked at her, a smile playfully tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Astrid nudged him again. "Why did you do it?"

"Well…" Hiccup said, no longer playing his coy little game. "I saw how much it meant for him to win. How much it meant for his father for him to win. And I thought back over this past year, how he's not getting as much attention because of me and my… dragon thing. He used to get so much attention and now, well, I'm kind of stealing that from him these days. He needed to win more than I did."

They were silent again. Astrid stared into those intoxicatingly beautiful green eyes, feeling a little warm inside in a way that, she suspected, had nothing to do with the sun. She reached over and took his hand in hers. He stared down at their clasped hands, marveling at how perfectly their fingers fit together, like pieces of a puzzle united at last. A moment later, Astrid slowly lowered her head until it was resting on his shoulder. He tentatively reached back with his free arm and rested it over her shoulders, thankful that she had decided to forgo the shoulder pads in that moment. He placed his head atop hers, taking in the wonderful scent of her hair. How did she manage to make it smell so good? He shut his eyes and planted the first kiss he had ever initiated into those gorgeous golden locks. She reacted to this by snuggling closer to him.

She could hear his heartbeat quickening slightly and knew that hers was doing the same. It was an almost hypnotic sound. She felt a bit drowsy and thought that it would be wonderful to fall asleep in his arms, knowing that he would hold her until she awoke. As she drifted closer and closer to sleep, she felt his arms tighten slightly around her, his rhythmic breathing growing deeper.

"I love you, Astrid." he whispered so quietly that not even their dragons could hear his words.

This shook Astrid out of her stupor.

"What?"

The heartbeat started to grow more audible. She could still hear it when she raised her head to stare at him.

"Did I say that out loud?" Hiccup asked, suddenly looking thoroughly embarrassed.

He didn't need an answer; he could tell by the look she was giving him.

"It's getting kind of late." Astrid said, quickly extricating herself from his arms.

"Yeah, you're right. Probably time to eat. I know I'm hungry!" Hiccup chuckled half heartedly, his face glowing red.

"Yeah." said Astrid, standing up as soon as Stormfly took her head off her lap. "Me too."

Hiccup clumsily mounted Toothless, doing his best to hide his face. Astrid mounted Stormfly, hoping he didn't notice how violently her hands were shaking. The two of them sat there for a moment, both mounted and ready to fly but neither wanting to be the first to leave.

"Hiccup?" Astrid finally said, turning to face him.

Hiccup looked at her, his face a bit less red than it had been before.

Astrid found herself at a loss for words. She stared into his eyes for a moment and felt as though she was diving into them, exploring the depths of his soul through them. Her heart began to pound uncomfortably in her ears.

"I… I'll see you around." Astrid finally said, hiding her face once more.

Hiccup flashed her a quick smile before taking off on Toothless. She watched him fly away, not feeling particularly eager to follow. As he became a speck in the distance, she exhaled slowly, realizing that she had been holding her breath since he had left.

"I love you too, Hiccup." She whispered as the Viking and his dragon disappeared into the sky.


	5. Love on the Battlefield

_WOW! 21 favorites in one week! That's the final count! And so many reviews! You guys are great! I had no idea this would take off. My best friend on here (I mention her too often so you probably know who she is by now) said that the shippers run this place and she was right. Good thing this update is EXTREMELY FLUFFY!_

_This story messes with the timeline. Again. Sorry. I decided this takes place at some point in the future, probably before the sequel since apparently Hiccup and Astrid are officially together in it. I'm not going to promise any specific timelines. I can't hold myself to it; my ideas are too random to follow rules like that. I'm an ENFP; rules are stupid._

_You're amazing! Thanks for all the kind reviews!_

_~KateMarie999_

**Love on the Battlefield**

_They were on the beach. Her hand was clasped tightly in his as they walked barefoot by the sea. He leaned over and kissed her suntanned cheek, feeling particularly gutsy now. She giggled in a girlish way so unlike what he had gotten used to. He loved that sound. She stopped walking and edged her way in front of him now. He grabbed her waist and leaned in. Their faces were getting closer…_

THWACK!

Hiccup awoke with a start, grabbing the side of his face. Toothless stood in the far end of his room, swinging his tail around. Hiccup sighed, rubbing the part of his face the tail had hit. He supposed it was his own fault Toothless had been restless in the first place. He had been so tired the previous night, he had forgotten to open the hole in the roof so Toothless could leave. He suspected that his dragon liked to venture out by himself in the early hours of the morning. Hiccup wondered if there was a certain Deadly Nadder that the Night Fury fancied but he and Astrid never been able to prove it.

_Astrid._

He remembered the dream and felt his heart race a bit. He and Astrid had never been so… affectionate before. Astrid's behavior toward him was mostly awkward now but he knew he could change that. She apparently hadn't let on that the two of them were so physically affectionate and he couldn't quite find the right moment to ask if their status was official or not. Oftentimes, she acted as though their occasional snogging sessions had never happened but sometimes he'd catch her staring at him only to turn away when she thought he had noticed.

Toothless pounced on him, forcing him out of his reverie. He found himself uncomfortably close to his dragon's catlike eyes. He smiled fondly at his reptilian friend.

"All right, buddy." he said, pulling off the covers. "You hungry?"

Toothless climbed off his owner and cocked his head slightly. He made a funny gurgling noise that Hiccup had come to associate with his begging for fish. He took out a raw fish and tossed it to his dragon, who gulped it down happily and made the noise again.

"You don't usually get breakfast this early. The sun's hardly up." Hiccup smiled. "I guess I can't help spoiling you."

He hopped over to Toothless and scratched him on the chin. The Night Fury fell to the ground limply but groaned in glee at the affection.

After eating his own breakfast, the Viking boy and his dragon ventured out into the village. It was completely silent. Almost no one was awake at this hour. By the sun, it was probably about six in the morning. Gobber would probably be hobbling around soon but not for at least half an hour.

"Looks like it's just you and me, bud." He said, looking over to his dragon.

Toothless snorted at his owner and walked off in the opposite direction. Hiccup supposed that he was irritated at being denied his morning walk.

"Or… not." he said, more to himself than the dragon.

If there was one thing about Hiccup that no one seemed to comprehend, it was that he loved moments of solitude. They allowed him to think, to recharge. He even wanted to be away from his dragon once in a while to be completely alone. He turned away from Toothless and walked in the direction of the arena. He supposed a little extra time working out what he would teach the rest of the teenagers was probably a good thing. He was tired from being awakened early but he didn't feel like going back to sleep. No, he'd probably let everyone out early and take a nap before it was his turn to fly out over the sea to defend the village with whoever else's name had come up (today it was Ruffnut and he wasn't much looking forward to that).

He reached the arena almost automatically. It was a little ways from the village so he didn't have to worry about being quiet anymore. He walked in, feeling very small in the gigantic space. Walking over to the storage room (that had once been the cage for Meatlug), he got out his lesson board and a bit of chalk. He thought perhaps he could quiz them. He was having a particularly hard time with the twins, whose counting skills were abysmal. He also got out a few weapons. The dragons had, at long last, come to trust their owners so completely that he had asked Astrid to train the teenagers in fighting while riding. She was more of an expert on things like that than he was.

He was carrying out an axe when the handle fell hard on his one good foot.

"OUCH!" he cried, falling over to grab at it.

The cry of pain echoed magnificently. Hiccup smiled.

"HELLO!" he shouted, enjoying the sound of the echo.

He began practicing his dragon calls, grinning at the echoes they made and wondering how he had never noticed how reverberatory the stadium had become. Enjoying his aloneness, he began to act out the dragons' signature behavior, pouncing on helpless weapons and roaring at them.

"Having fun?"

Hiccup spun around, his face flushed. He hadn't realized he'd had an audience. Astrid stood at the entrance to the stadium, her hands on her hips and a small smile on her face.

"Astrid… hi!" he said too cheerfully, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just practicing those dragon calls!"

"Oh yes, I could tell. Very theatrical." Astrid's grin widened at the sight of her embarrassed friend.

"Where's Stormfly?" asked Hiccup, eager to change the subject.

"She likes to walk around early in the morning sometimes. She'll be along. Where's Toothless?"

Hiccup shrugged. "He does the same thing. I guess it's just you and me."

Astrid looked around, as though expecting someone to jump out of the shadows and announce their presence.

"Yep." she said, avoiding his gaze. "Got a plan?"

"Pop quiz. Maybe some drills with the weapons." Hiccup shakily placed the weapons back where they belonged. "Have you got a better idea?"

"No." said Astrid, watching Hiccup with amusement. "That sounds fine."

"Good." Hiccup straightened up and finally smiled at her. "So… whole empty stadium to ourselves. What do you want to do?"

"Have you practiced any archery recently? That's easy to do on top of a dragon." Astrid walked over and picked up a bow and some arrows.

Hiccup shook his head. "That's probably not the best idea. I have terrible aim. Plus, couldn't we just use the crossbow?"

"Come on, Hiccup, you know bows are arrows are much more portable. You need to learn how to use them. I can show you. What's your stronger eye?" she asked, tossing him the bow.

He didn't catch it. "Right, I think." he said, bending down to pick up the bow. "What's that got to do with it?"

Astrid handed him an arrow. "Everything. If you aim using your stronger eye, you're more likely to hit the target."

Hiccup gaped at her. "So _that's_ why you shoot left-handed. I always thought that was odd."

Astrid nodded. "You're catching on. Now prepare to shoot. Aim for one of Stormfly's spikes right on the wall there. See if you can hit it."

Hiccup stretched the string back, aiming the arrow at the spike. He was just about to let go of the arrow when Astrid shouted for him to stop.

"What?" he asked, irritated at being interrupted.

"Your form is wrong." said Astrid, walking over to him. She stood behind him. "Move your elbow."

She gently placed her warm hand on his elbow, aiming it upward. He felt a tingling sensation at her touch but forced himself to ignore it. This was about learning archery…

Astrid came closer. "You want to move your head up a bit too." she breathed in his ear as his tingling sensation became much more distracting.

She placed her fingers on his chin and slowly moved his head upward. His heart began to race so fast he hoped she wouldn't be able to hear it. Her breath felt warm on his face and he felt his body weaken ever so slightly. Concentrating on aiming the arrow had suddenly become very, _very _difficult.

"And… shoot." Astrid whispered, placing a hand on his waist.

Without thinking, he let go of the arrow. It shot forward and didn't land anywhere near his mark.

"You're right." said Astrid, speaking normally now. "You do have bad aim."

"_You_ have bad aim." Hiccup said without thinking. "You're the instructor."

Astrid leaned in so that her face was very close to his. "Oh do I?" she asked him, her voice barely above a whisper. "Is that a challenge?"

Hiccup felt his whole body grow very warm. He turned to face the girl, his face close enough that he could steal a kiss if he wanted.

"Oh yes," he replied, whispering so that only she could hear him. "That was a challenge. Unless you're not up to it."

Astrid leaned in even closer. "I'm always up to a challenge."

She placed her hands on his waist. His heart began to race even faster. But before he could react, she began moving her fingers in a bizarre way up and down his sides. A debilitating tickling sensation began shooting up and down where she was touching him. He recoiled, giggling and staring at her in surprise.

"Looks like I hit my mark." Astrid grinned at the look of shock on his face and continued to tickle him.

"Not… what… I… meant…" Hiccup gasped between fits of laughter.

"Looks like my aim is perfect!" Astrid quipped as her tickling became even more intense.

Hiccup fell to the floor, laughing so hard he could hear it echo all over the stadium, as though ten Hiccups were laughing at once. Astrid climbed on top of him, continuing to tickle every inch of him that she could reach.

"Give up?" she asked as he began to gasp for air.

"No way!" he laughed and reached up to reciprocate.

As it turned out, he _did _have good aim. Astrid crumpled on top of him when his nimble fingers found the spot in which she was most ticklish, her laughter joining his. She rolled to her side to try to get away from him but he merely used the opportunity to roll on top of her, pinning her to the ground as he continued to mercilessly tickle her. She was immobilized, laughing until her face was red and tears streamed down her face. At long last, Hiccup took his hands away and the two of them lay down next to each other. They were panting and both felt extremely hot.

"You win." Astrid said at long last.

Hiccup looked over at her. She looked so beautiful, even with her bangs stuck to her forehead with sweat and tearstains down her face.

"You never let me win." he said, nudging her slightly.

Astrid shrugged. "I guess I'm just feeling charitable."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Just _how _charitable?"

Astrid gave him a sly smile. "Why don't you come over here and find out?"

Hiccup rolled over so he was leaning over her, leaning on his hands, which he placed on either side of her head. She continued to smile at him, challenging him with her eyes. She was daring him to come closer and he wasn't about to let her down.

He leaned down and planted a kiss on her nose. Her smile widened.

"I was right." She said, her breath feeling warm on his face. "You _do_ have bad aim."

She reached up and grabbed his head with her hand, running her fingers though his soft hair. She leaned up and kissed him on the mouth. He smiled as he reciprocated. She began to nibble his lower lip and he was surprised to find himself enjoying that sensation a little _too_ much.

"Cool! Is that what we're learning today? I call Fishlegs!" came a voice that sounded horrifyingly like Ruffnut's.

Hiccup and Astrid looked up, startled, and were mortified to see Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, and all of their dragons staring at them in surprise. The two Vikings tried to get up but found themselves tangled in each other as they did so. It took a while to extricate themselves from each other but they finally stood up, blushing furiously. Astrid punched Hiccup on the shoulder and he didn't have to ask why she had done it that time.

Snotlout, who had been carrying a club, threw it down on the ground and stomped off, leaving his Monstrous Nightmare in the stadium.

"So… uhh…" Astrid said, trying to act as though nothing had happened.

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck, hoping that his face would one day return to its original color.

"Quiz today." he said, hoping that none of them could see him shaking as he gestured toward the board.

Ruffnut looked slightly disappointed that snogging was not, in fact, in the lesson plan while Fishlegs looked mildly relieved.

As Hiccup went over to the board and picked up the chalk, he caught Astrid's eye and suddenly knew that the challenge was far from over. The teenagers took their seats (no one seemed to want to go fetch Snotlout) as Hiccup began the lesson of the day.


	6. Shattered Defenses

_This story has a story of its own. It all began with a request from Midoriko-sama. I set out to write the story that I envisioned coming out of the request. As I was writing, this story shoved the first out of the way and came out all on its own. Needless to say, I'm going to have to go back and write out the original idea in a future update. For now, this is a sickeningly sweet update that is probably the best descriptive writing I've ever done. So enjoy!_

_~KateMarie999_

**Shattered Defenses**

Astrid Hofferson prided herself in her ability to remain emotionless even in the most emotional circumstances. When her father died, she didn't cry. She didn't do anything, in fact. She merely walked into the woods and let herself get lost, not wanting to show any emotion but still unable to face the rest of the village. Her mother nearly had a heart attack when she returned but still she remained unemotional. There had been a moment a few years ago when she had let herself go completely but… no. She wasn't going to dwell on that.

She found herself getting lost in the woods once more, this time without her dragon. While it was an odd comfort to have Stormfly nearby, she felt as though she needed to be alone that day. She thought about her Deadly Nadder, how she had become her best friend. And if not for Hiccup, she probably would have killed her by now.

_No!_ She stopped herself from thinking about Hiccup. He had made everything so difficult. Their incredibly embarrassing episode yesterday was spreading like wildfire and she knew it was only a matter of time before it reached their parents. It probably already had and she would return to find her mother giving her that… that _look_. She hated that look. The one her mother would get when she thought she knew something her daughter didn't. It was infuriating.

Why did she have to do a stupid thing like _touch_ him? His form had been wrong but he probably would have hit the target nonetheless. She had just been gripped with the sudden, inexplicable urge to go up and show him exactly where he was going wrong and the result was her losing complete control over herself. She was too competitive for her own good. If she had just left it when he had missed his target, none of this would have happened. But _no_. She had taken one look at those beautiful eyes and lost herself completely. When was she going to learn to leave it alone? Soon, she would have a boyfriend before she was ready.

Oh Thor, a boyfriend? Really? Her mind had gone there? She tried to banish the thought but once it had entered her mind, it seemed to stick. It was like a parasite, feeding on her meticulous defenses against using any emotions. Her father would have been ashamed.

Not that he was ever anything else. _No!_ She wasn't going to bring him into it either. If she was going to have an emotional breakdown, it was going to be on _her_ terms. Others might call her a control freak. She preferred to think of herself as a natural leader. Like Hiccup.

Why did her thoughts keep bringing him back? It was enough to make her hit _herself_ for stupidity. She got out a knife from her pocket and lobbed it at a tree. It hit the trunk directly in the middle. She took a deep breath, feeling a lot better, and went to retrieve her knife. When she got to the tree, everything came back in a flood of emotions and she began hitting her head against the trunk, willing her mind to go blank again.

"Rough day?"

She spun around, mildly startled but feeling like it was inevitable that he would find her in this position. Sure enough, Hiccup stood there in front of her, his arms full of firewood (which looked a little too heavy for him) and a concerned expression on his face.

She had to suppress a desire to slap that expression right off his face. It was making her heart melt. The parasite began to bite down hard into her defenses. She took a few deep breaths as Hiccup eyed her concernedly.

"Yeah." She said at last, breaking the increasingly uncomfortable silence. "Rough day."

Hiccup dropped all the firewood he was carrying and started walking over to her. Gods, why didn't she run? She felt as though her insides had turned into the heaviest iron. Except for her head. She wondered if he could see her brains oozing out of her ears.

"Is it something to do with what happened?" he asked, not meeting her gaze.

Her insides came back.

"It has _everything_ to do with that!" she shouted, suddenly angry for no apparent reason.

He took a step back, probably not wanting to be hit again.

"I'm sorry it escalated so quickly." he said, staring at his shoe now.

Even awkward and embarrassed, he was still adorable. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him like that?

"It was my fault." She said at last, grabbing hold of her knife and pulling on it.

To her great embarrassment, she couldn't seem to extricate the knife from the tree. She must have thrown it _very _hard. So emotions made her stronger, did they? She wanted them to stop.

"Need some help?" he asked, taking a step closer to her.

Oh _Thor,_ no! She suddenly found herself completely incapable of speech. Her desperate attempts had only succeeded in her making a kind of squeaking noise.

He placed his hands over hers and helped her tug at the knife. His hands were so soft! How was that even possible? He had worked in the forge his whole life! One would think he'd have calluses. And he did, once she looked down at them she could see them, but even they felt soft against her own skin. She shivered and prayed to the gods that he didn't feel it.

He felt it. "Getting cold?"

The look on his face assured her that he knew _exactly _why she had shivered and it made her want to hit him. She restrained herself. Technically he hadn't actually done anything to deserve it. She had a strong feeling that would change. He had a habit of putting his foot in his mouth.

"No, I'm fine. I just… I don't like it when you touch me like that." She wrenched her hand away from his as though it had been burned.

He looked slightly hurt. "Astrid, I'm going to risk getting hit for saying this but you never seemed to mind it before."

She looked at him and for a moment, she considered hitting him. But no, he didn't deserve it. He was right. Punishing him for being right seemed counterintuitive somehow.

"Look…" Hiccup took a deep breath. "What happened yesterday, I mean, I'm not going to pretend it didn't mean anything to me but…"

"That's the problem!" she snapped. "It _did_ mean something!"

She wished that he would act at least a little surprised but instead he… oh _gods_, he was giving her the same annoying look her mother had. She didn't even know he could do that and she internally begged him to stop.

They stared at each other for at least a minute, unable to think of what to say next.

"What did it mean?" he finally asked, looking rather vulnerable now.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I guess… I guess… I…"

They stared at each other again. Awkward silences were beginning to become routine for them. She wondered if that would ever be something they could outgrow. She took a tentative step toward him. He didn't move. He was acting like he did when he was meeting a new dragon; he let the dragon come to him first. She half expected him to reach out a hand toward her. If he did that, she _would_ hit him.

She took another step toward him. Again, he did not move. She took another. And then another. Their faces were inches apart… now centimeters… now millimeters… the steam from their warm breaths began to rise together instead of separately… they could feel the heat radiating off of each others' bodies.

They lingered for a second, not quite touching. A moment later, she brushed her lips against his. He gently lifted his hand and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. She wondered how his hand managed to stay warm in this weather. She placed her hand on his cheek, slowly moving it upward to brush some strands of hair out of his eyes. Those wonderful, glorious green eyes…

She was beginning to feel as though she had no control of her body. The parasite had eaten away at her defenses completely and, to her horror, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She tried to keep them inside her eyelids but too late; one escaped through her eyelashes and fell down her cheek. It felt hot against her skin. Rather than speak, Hiccup reached up and delicately brushed it away with his thumb just as another slipped through on the other side.

"I'm sorry." she whispered shakily as a third tear made its way down her face.

He shook his head. "Don't be. Just let it out."

It wasn't just his body heat she could feel. It was _love_. Not just puppy love, like he'd had for her as long as they could remember; it was true, genuine _love_ for her. As their eyes met, her reflection seemed to shine in them, as though she was the only one he could see. Everything else had fallen away. It was just the two of them standing there in an empty space, the most important people in the entire universe. His features became blurry as more tears came to the surface, now falling thick and fast upon her face. She had given up trying to stop them. Her breath was shaking now but she forced herself not to collapse onto him.

He leaned down slightly and kissed her tearstained cheek. He kissed her again. And again… her knees felt weak at the touch, so light and gentle and yet wildly passionate at the same time. He slowly brought her closer to him until she was crying into his shirt. She could feel his steady heartbeat which seemed to be screaming out how much he loved her with every beat. Shaking even more, she turned her wet face up to look at his. He brushed away her tears, not caring that what he cleaned away was soon replaced with fresh tears seconds later.

"I love you, Hiccup." she breathed, unsure if he could hear her.

Whether he had heard her or not, she could tell that he knew. He held her tighter, still brushing away her tears. Slowly, his hand moved down her face and cupped her chin. He moved her chin up a little more and leaned in. She closed her eyes and felt his lips meet hers. They were barely touching at first and for a moment, she wondered if she was imagining it. Soon he leaned in a bit more and she couldn't deny the softness of his lips or the passion of the embrace. It wasn't the rough, passionate kiss of yesterday but somehow, it felt even more meaningful.

After what felt like hours, they broke apart. Her tears finally ceased. She wiped the remaining tears away from her face and was certain she looked terrible. She was probably very red and with the sniffling sounds she was making, she knew she couldn't be attractive at the moment. His look never changed and she could tell that he still thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world without having to ask. Their hands were still clasped, both slightly fearful of letting go. If they let go, they would be letting go of what had happened.

"Feeling any better?" he asked at last, brushing away her bangs to clear her vision.

She nodded, feeling as though her voice would never return to normal. He smiled and took a step forward. She followed, walking in step with him yet not feeling the need to speak anymore. As they walked in silence, simply enjoying each others' company, she felt as though pride in her lack of emotions was something she needed to reconsider. After all, had she forced the emotions down, she wouldn't feel as though a great weight had been taken from her. She squeezed Hiccup's hand and the two young Vikings once again became the only beings in the universe. The parasite, having eaten its fill, fell away from her and left no defenses it its wake.

Not that she needed them anymore.


	7. Stubbornness Issues Part 1

_This WILL be the story I originally planned, so help me! Thanks to Midoriko-sama for giving me the initial idea that sparked this story. It deviates from her idea but I think the surprise makes it worth it. The next part should be a lot longer but I had to use this one to set it up.  
_

_Enjoy and don't forget to review!_

_~KateMarie999_

**Stubbornness Issues Part 1**

The sun was setting over the wood as two young Vikings hiked back to the village. They hardly noticed the darkening sky as the sun disappeared into the horizon. They only had eyes for each other.

Astrid's face was still slightly red from her emotional release earlier. Hiccup was glad for this; he loved her no matter what but this new, vulnerable Astrid was much more attractive. It was _genuine_. He knew that the next few days would be fascinating now that she had allowed him to see that part of her. He felt as though he was falling in love with her again. He hoped the feeling would last.

At last, they made their way over to Hiccup's house. They faced each other, unsure of what to say now. They hadn't spoken at all in the forest. It was as though they could read each others' minds but now actual words and conversation seemed to be the right thing to do. For a few minutes, they stood in silence, looking at each other with almost quizzical expressions.

"So…" Hiccup said, scratching the back of his head.

"That was nice." Astrid smiled. "But if you tell anyone about what happened, I will vehemently deny it."

He laughed. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

They became silent again. Astrid tried to tuck her bangs behind her ears but they emerged in front of her eyes seconds later. Hiccup reached forward with two fingers, took hold of the errant bangs, and did it for her. It stayed… for an extra two seconds, which was just long enough for Astrid to roll her eyes and Hiccup to grin in triumph. When it fell back yet again, they both shrugged helplessly as they realized it just wasn't meant to be.

"So are we… you know… official?" he asked at last, his hands twitching as he tried to suppress the urge to rub the back of his neck, as he always did when things got awkward.

Astrid glanced down at his hands and forced herself not to chuckle at his obvious effort. "What do you think?"

He couldn't stop himself any longer. He reached up and looked almost relieved as his hand began to awkwardly rub against his neck.

"I… I… what do you mean?" he asked, trying not to stutter but unable to stop himself.

Astrid bit her lip. He was so adorable when he was feeling this uncomfortable. Making him squirm was so much fun. But to keep it going, she had to maintain a straight face.

"I mean what do you think about us?" she asked, crossing her arms and giving him what she hoped was a replication of the look she often got from her mother.

Judging by his reaction, she'd gotten it spot on. "I… uhh… I really like you… I thought you knew that… why are you asking me this?"

"I'm just messing with you, Hiccup." she said, finally letting loose the laugh she felt bubbling to the surface.

Hiccup looked relieved. "Okay so…"

Astrid stood on tiptoe and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Yes, I guess we can be official."

He looked very surprised. "Really?"

She put a hand up to his cheek. It was very cold but he barely noticed. All he could think about was her.

"It's a long time coming, I guess." She sighed. "I think we're going to have to talk to our parents sooner or later."

"Like they don't already know about everything that's been building up since we were, what, six?" he kissed her on the forehead. "I don't think there will be much opposition. Well… Snotlout…"

Astrid laughed. "I'll deal with Snotlout."

Hiccup smiled, a look of relief washing over his features. "Thank you."

She looked thoughtful for a moment. Her brow furrowed and he suppressed the urge to point out how cute he thought it was when she was thinking hard about something.

"What does this change?" she asked at last.

"Change?"

"I mean are we going to act differently around each other? Are we going to kiss in public more?" she took a deep breath. "This is going to be very complicated."

He hadn't considered the changes that might take place. He scratched the back of his head.

"I kind of thought we'd just… go with whatever happens." he said, shrugging. "I didn't really think about it that way."

She reached up and patted him on the cheek. "Oh Hiccup, I love you but you can be so hopeless sometimes."

He beamed at her. She had said she loved him twice now. That meant he needed to even the score at some point. Maybe he'd blurt it out in public. Maybe he'd write it in a love note. Maybe he would…

"Hiccup?"

He realized, to his embarrassment, that he had been completely ignoring what she was saying.

"Sorry…" he said, blushing a little bit.

She shook her head. "The first thing you need to do is pay attention."

He knew he couldn't argue with her on this point. The hand he had just put back to his side inched up again. She noticed it and grabbed his wrist.

"Let me get that for you." She winked at him as she used her other hand to rub the back of his head.

Her touch sent shivers up and down his spine. While he usually rubbed his neck out of a strange compulsion to do something with his hand, this seemed to serve a completely different purpose. Why did her touch immobilize him so much? It was beginning to get to the point where he would let her do anything she wanted if she as much as brushed up against his skin. One of her soft fingers inched its way into his hair. He finally figured out what to do with the hand he so dearly wanted to use to rub his neck. He placed it on her waist, bringing her closer to him until their faces were millimeters apart. Rather than meeting his lips with her own, she turned her face downward a little bit and gently brushed her lips against his neck. He groaned in pleasure as her warm breath began to heat up his skin. His hand tightened around her waist. She kissed his neck again.

"Astrid…" he moaned. "We… we should probably, you know… go home… it's late…"

"Yeah" she said, her voice slightly muffled. "We should."

Neither of them made any move to break away. She finally reached up and nibbled his lip. He had to force himself not to fall over in response to the sensation that originated in his lip but rapidly spread to the rest of his body. She could feel his body weakening against hers.

At long last, they broke apart, half expecting the twins to pop up out of nowhere and ruin the moment. When they were certain the twins and their other peers were absent, Astrid playfully smacked Hiccup's shoulder.

"Let's go inside and let your dad know it's official. It's the right thing to do. He's the chief, I mean, if he doesn't approve of me, we can't be together." she shrugged and winked at him

"If he doesn't approve, we could always meet in secret." he winked at her.

"Now I almost hope he doesn't." Astrid grinned.

He stared at her for a second. "You're scary."

"I know." she said and, before he could stop her, shot out her hands and tickled him on his sides.

He let out a bark of laughter but, before he could immobilize him, he threw his arms around her waist and picked her up. She squealed in surprise but it soon followed it with her own laughter. He spun her around in circles a few times and then put her down. She felt a little shaky and weak in the knees so she continued to lean on him.

"Let's go in." he said at last, still laughing.

He opened the door all the way and led his laughing girlfriend into the house. Stoick was on the couch, facing away from them. To his great horror, Hiccup realized that his father was entwined with a woman whose face he couldn't see, their lips pressed together. He took a step back as Stoick whirled around to face him.

"Hiccup!" he exclaimed, a tinge of red appearing on his cheeks. "I… well… Hiccup!"

Hiccup put a hand over his eyes. "I'm sorry, dad! I… I'll just go now."

He tried to steer Astrid away, all the while keeping his eyes shut, but she wouldn't budge. She was staring at the woman with which Stoick was snogging moments before, a look of horror on her face.

She stared in silence for a while but finally her voice returned. "_Mom_?"


	8. Stubbornness Issues Part 2

_WOW! Apparently the most recent cliff hanger really got to you all! I'm kind of surprised; I wrote a cliff hanger that was pretty suspenseful in another How to Train Your Dragon story and only one person actually mentioned how intense it was yet I throw a possible wrench into Hiccstrid and the fandom has a panic attack. Actually your reviews were a great source of entertainment for me and they made me want to write this part and have it up as soon as possible._

_Seriously though, the outpouring of love for this series has really gotten to me. Never in my life have I been told repeatedly that I'm good at anything and the fact that you guys like this series so much is making me kind of choked up. Yesterday, my phone was going off constantly to alert me to new reviews and actually __**Miss Pookamonga**__ can attest to this because she was there when I received a few. So really, I appreciate them SO MUCH!_

_And without further ado, I will stop torturing you all further and let you get to the story. Please leave a review when you finish reading because they make me so happy and harden my resolve to continue writing this for you all._

_~KateMarie999_

**Stubbornness Issues Part 2**

Everything seemed to be coming to a screeching halt. The momentum in the relationship ended very abruptly as Hiccup's father and Astrid's mother stared sheepishly up at them. Hiccup finally removed his hand from his eyes and stared at the two, his mouth agape and his arm frozen around Astrid.

"What in Odin's name is going on here?" Astrid exclaimed after another moment of silence.

"Astrid…" Astrid's mother said, attempting to remove herself from Stoick's arms. "I was going to tell you, I swear…"

"So was I, Hiccup, but… well the moment never really came up…" Stoick said, joining Astrid's mother in standing up.

"The moment never came up? What, was our riveting discussion on when to do the laundry last night just too important to interrupt?" Hiccup asked as he became acutely aware of Astrid trying to untangle herself from his arm and he put it limply by his side to free her.

"Ah… yes… well considering how your relationship with Astrid was going, it just… well… it seemed a little awkward." Stoick replied, trying to look nonchalant but the red mark on his neck was telling a different story.

"How long has this been going on?" Astrid asked, crossing her arms.

"Oh… about a month." said Astrid's mother, clasping her hands and twiddling her thumbs. "We should get home, Astrid."

Astrid nodded, looking more angry by the second. "Yes. Yes we should." she said with forced calmness as she allowed her mother to exit the house first. She turned to Hiccup. "Hiccup, I… well…"

Hiccup shook his head. "We'll talk later." he said. "You need to go home."

She nodded and walked out of the door, slamming it behind her. Stoick and Hiccup waited until the sound of their footsteps died away before turning to face each other.

"Astrid's mom? Of all the single women on Berk, you had to make out with _Astrid's mom_?" Hiccup blurted out.

"Well she's a very vibrant woman. And quite feisty, actually…"

"_No_!" Hiccup shouted. "I do _not_ want to hear about what you and her… what she and you… just no!"

His eyes flitted to the red mark on his father's neck and was surprised to see his father do the same. To his horror, he remembered the kisses Astrid had placed on his neck mere minutes before and realized that Astrid must have left her own mark as well. In another situation, he might have found this very funny. Now his face burned with embarrassment.

"You can't keep seeing her." he said, now feeling a little abashed. "What will it look like with Astrid and me being in a relationship and also being brother and sister? I don't even know if that qualifies as incest but I _really_ don't want to find out!"

Stoick let out a booming laugh. "Hiccup, you're overreacting. This is just a bit of fun…"

"Gah, dad I told you I don't want to hear it!" Hiccup interrupted, looking very uncomfortable.

"Fine, fine. But this discussion is over, at least for now. We've got dragons to feed." The tone of Stoick's voice made it very clear that he didn't intend to discuss his relationship any further. "Did you get the firewood I asked for?"

"Firewood?" Hiccup's brow furrowed as he thought back to earlier that day. "Oh, _that_ firewood. I'm sorry, dad, I completely forgot. I mean I had it but then… well Astrid was there and she…"

Stoick put up a hand. "I don't want to hear it. Just get it for tomorrow."

Hiccup nodded and picked up a barrel of fish to take to his dragon. He and Stoick stared at each other for a few seconds. Both wanted to say something but were unsure of what to say. Finally they turned away and went in separate directions.

* * *

Astrid landed on her favorite, secluded spot on the island the next morning, unable to face the rest of the village. She knew that the chances of Hiccup joining her were _very_ high, which was exactly what she wanted. If anyone understood how she felt, it was him.

Sure enough, she had been sitting on the edge of the cliff for less than a minute when she saw the familiar outline of the boy on his Night Fury flying toward their spot. Toothless had barely made contact with the ground when Hiccup dismounted, muttering furiously about something. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't alone but he seemed too preoccupied to be embarrassed that Astrid had been watching him. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then they both began to talk at once.

"Astrid, I'm sorry everything got so weird, I had no idea this was going on…"

"…and she was trying to tell me all about what kind of a lover your dad is and it was completely inappropriate…"

"…my dad says it's been going on for a month but if we don't stop it, I don't know what will…"

"…happen if they stay together because then I don't even know if we'll be allowed to…"

They suddenly stopped talking and everything went silent for a minute as they realized that they had likely been saying the exact same thing. They _didn't_ want their parents to let this go on any longer. But there was a deeper issue. Now that _they_ were officially a couple, could they keep it going without this distraction?

Astrid finally broke the silence. "I don't want to think about it anymore." she said, shaking her head and leaning on her dragon.

Hiccup sat down next to her. "Me neither."

They were silent again but this time, they felt incredibly awkward. Hiccup inched closer to her and reached out a slightly trembling hand which he slowly placed around her shoulders. Astrid put her head down on his shoulder. It was amazing how different it felt. Yesterday they couldn't keep their hands off of each other and now…

"This is weird." Hiccup said at last, voicing Astrid's feelings.

Astrid's head shot up and Hiccup's arm came down at his side. They left about a foot between them, feeling as though there was an invisible wall separating them.

"Everything is ruined." Astrid said, sighing deeply and reaching for a nearby branch to whittle.

Hiccup watched her angrily slice away strips of the wood for a moment before he responded.

"Yeah. We've got to put a stop to this." He said, inching farther away as he noticed that she was whittling a _very_ sharp tip into the wood.

"How can we do that? Introduce them to someone else?" Astrid asked, accidentally splintering the wood with the harshness of her movements.

"Well… yeah. There are other single men who are kind of like my dad. Like… Gobber maybe." Hiccup knew that this was a stupid thing to say the moment he said it.

"Gobber? Oh yeah, that would go over _real_ well with my mom. The man almost never bathes."

Hiccup nodded sympathetically. "Well… there's also Spitelout."

Astrid turned to glare at him so fast, her hair smacked Stormfly's back rather hard. The dragon didn't react.

"And make me _Snotlout's_ sister? Are you _insane_?" she exclaimed.

Hiccup recoiled slightly. "Yeah, I didn't give that much thought…"

"Why not introduce your dad to Ruffnut and Tuffnut's mom, if we want to make a big, happy family of it?" Astrid smirked at the look of horror that crossed his features. "Yeah, I didn't think so."

They became silent again. Hiccup's hands began to twitch slightly. He felt like he had to do something with them but he didn't know what. Astrid glanced over and noticed his conundrum. She handed him a slightly smaller dagger.

"What's this for?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"You need to do something other than twitch. There's a good branch right next to you." She said, pointing at the branch to which she was referring.

Hiccup picked up the dagger and the branch and eyed them suspiciously for a moment before slicing off a segment of the bark. To his immense surprise, he felt himself relax considerably. He looked over at Astrid, who was now concentrating on her own whittling.

"So just how many weapons do you carry on your person at any given time?" he asked.

She looked over at him, gave him a knowing smile, and didn't reply. He wasn't sure whether to feel more attracted or more horrified at this reaction. Just so long as he stayed on her good side, he would be safe. He sliced away another layer and felt as though the tension was falling away like the shaving of wood fluttering slowly to the ground.

* * *

A few hours later, Hiccup landed in front of the forge looking unsure of himself. He had been deep in thought about his next move and his mind kept coming back to the same conclusion. He knew it was a long shot and that it was probably a very stupid idea but he needed to do _something_ to keep himself from going crazy.

"Hiccup!" Gobber exclaimed cheerfully. "You're just in time!"

"Just in time for wha…" Hiccup began before Gobber forcibly grabbed his wrist and dragged the young Viking into the forge.

A little girl sat patiently on a bench in the corner holding an angry looking Terrible Terror. Gobber bounded over to her with glee.

"All right, Magnus, hand him over and I'll take a look at him!" he said enthusiastically, taking the dragon from her arms.

The Terrible Terror began to squawk and struggle violently. Gobber immediately thrust it into Hiccup's arms.

"Hold him still!" he commanded, getting out some rather sharp looking instruments.

"Gobber, I'm not sure this is a good…"

"Ahh, there's the problem!" Gobber interrupted, prying the dragon's mouth open with a strange instrument in place of his left hand.

The indignant dragon spat fire in the older Viking's face. Not one to be deterred by anything, he merely patted away the fire that stared to burn away his vast mustache.

"Ahh you're a feisty little one, aren't you?" he exclaimed, still looking very enthusiastic despite nearly receiving second degree burns.

He thrust his right hand, holding a pair of something that looked like tweezers, into the dragon's mouth and pulled out the rotten tooth. The Terrible Terror shook his head a few times and then made an odd cooing noise that seemed to signal that he was now feeling much better. The little girl brightened up at this and bounded forward, eagerly extending her arms for her dragon.

"Just a little while longer, Magnus." Gobber explained, now getting out a few more tools. "Gotta make sure his other teeth stay healthy. You wouldn't want him to have another toothache, now would you?"

The girl shook her head and meekly sat back down. Hiccup felt as though his arm had been ripped apart by the dragon's claws but still he remained patiently silent. He knew that getting on Gobber's good side had advantages. The dragon, upon realizing that his ordeal was far from over, began to struggle again and Hiccup found himself holding on tighter. His arms began to ooze blood but still he did not complain.

"All finished. Now you make sure he doesn't eat any more rocks. That's Gronckle food." Gobber said, finally taking the errant dragon out of Hiccup's arms and handing him back to the girl.

"I will. Thank you, mister." Magnus said with a smile and skipped away, the dragon now docile in his owner's arms.

"Nice girl." Gobber said, watching her retreating form. "Shame about the name, though."

He bounded over to a cabinet and grabbed a small container of a sort of a sickly green colored ointment, which he used to dab at the burned areas of his face.

The sight of Gobber with a green tinged face was somewhat alarming but Hiccup kept his cool. He walked over to the cabinet and took out some bandages, which he placed over his arms. Fortunately, the cuts were fairly shallow so they would heal fast.

"So Gobber," he said as he awkwardly wound a bandage over his aching left arm. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Aye, this is about your father and his new girlfriend, now isn't it?" Gobber asked, not even turning to face him.

Hiccup was taken slightly aback at the knowledge that even Gobber was aware of his predicament. He secured the bandage and reached for another for his right arm.

"How did you…"

"Nothing happens on this island without me knowing about it!" Gobber exclaimed, now banging around with what looked like a new dentistry instrument he was inventing.

"Except when a certain Viking starts teaching himself to ride a Night Fury." Hiccup said, rolling his eyes. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You want my advice?" Gobber asked, turning to face his former apprentice. "Do nothing."

"_Nothing_?"

"Oh yeah. This thing'll burn out on its own." The dentist turned back to his invention.

"What if it doesn't?" Hiccup asked, looking a little uncomfortable.

"I've known your father since before you were born! If there's one thing I know, it's that your father isn't the type to settle down." Gobber said, detaching the strange dentistry tool from his left arm and replacing it with a hammer.

"Then why did he do it with my mom?" Hiccup asked.

"Ach, that was different." Gobber replied, waving his hand as though to physically push aside the query. "Your mother was special. He was smitten from the moment he laid eyes on her. None of the others have even come close!"

"Wait… others?" Hiccup looked suddenly horrified. "There have been _others_?"

Gobber spun around to face him once more, laughing uproariously. "You really thought Astrid's mother was the first? Oh no, there have been plenty of others, he's just been quite a bit more discreet."

The idea of his father having any sort of love life made Hiccup feel physically ill. He wanted to ask how long it had been going on but stopped himself; in truth, he really didn't want to know.

"Trust me, Hiccup." Gobber said, his laughter dying down now. "I know your father better than anyone. This will burn out just like all the rest of them."

Hiccup nodded and walked out of the forge, feeling a bit dazed. Toothless eyed him concernedly as he emerged.

"What are you looking at?" Hiccup snapped. A split second later, his sudden burst of anger ebbed away and he gave his dragon an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, bud. I've been bombarded with too much information and I think I need time to think about it." He hugged Toothless, who was still looking a little hurt. "Let's go riding."

And with that, he swung a leg over his Night Fury and they took off into the sky.

* * *

"Whole house to ourselves today. What do you want to do?" Stoick asked, raising an eyebrow at the blonde woman in front of him.

Lotus Hofferson smiled at him. "Come on over here and we'll see!"

Stoick bounded over to her and placed a kiss on her rosy cheek. For some reason, it felt a lot less exciting than it had before. Lotus seemed to feel that way as well. She grimaced and looked up at Stoick, her blue eyes still as beautiful as before but suddenly almost forbidden.

"This is a lot less fun than it was before." She said, sitting up and crossing her legs. "Now that our kids know… Astrid's face when she saw us… it feels wrong."

"Yes. She and Hiccup have always been… well…"

"Exactly. And for us to take that away from them just for a little bit of fun…"

They stared at each other for a few moments. Lotus began to jiggle her foot uncomfortably and Stoick was seized with the sudden desire to rub the back of his head with his hand. He started to understand how his son felt most of the time and he did _not_ like it one bit.

"So… what do we do now?" Lotus asked.

Stoick shook his head. "I think it's time to end whatever this is. I mean it was fun…"

"Lots of fun!"

"And you were great!"

"So were you!"

"But… we need to think about our kids." Stoick finished, looking a little relieved.

"Yes we do. We had our time. We need to let them have theirs." Lotus said, smiling serenely. "But it was nice while it lasted."

"Yes it was." Stoick replied, nodding.

The woman stood up and slowly exited the house. Stoick stared at the door even after she had closed it. Then, shaking his head and clearing his mind of all the unwanted emotions, he decided to get back to work.

* * *

Hiccup dismounted at dusk, walking into his front door with his eyes squeezed shut. A second later, he regretted this decision because he stubbed his toe painfully on something sitting next to the entrance. Stoick sighed. He had long since accepted that his son would always be clumsy.

"Hiccup, I wanted to have a talk about what happened…" he said, standing up and heading over to his son.

"No, dad, we really don't have to…"

"We ended it today." Stoick said, swiftly cutting off the end of his sentence.

Hiccup looked up at his father, surprise evident in his gaze. "You did?"

Stoick nodded. "It didn't seem right. You and Astrid have always been so… so…"

His eyes flitted to the red mark that Hiccup, despite his efforts, had been unable to remove from his neck. The younger Viking blushed.

"Yeah, dad, I know. Umm is it… is it okay if I go see her now?" he asked, absentmindedly reaching up and covering the mark with his hand.

There was a glimmer of amusement in his father's eyes. "I wouldn't expect you to do anything else."

Hiccup bounded out of the house, forgetting to shut the door behind him. Stoick watched as his son mounted the surprised Night Fury and immediately ascended into the sky.

* * *

It took a while for Hiccup to locate Astrid but he finally found her in the cove, irritably pitching rocks into the water and watching them splash with a small amount of satisfaction. He landed next to her and dismounted. Toothless made a funny warbling noise and began to watch the fish swimming below him in the transparent water, waiting for his chance to gobble one up for dinner. Stormfly soon joined him and the two Vikings watched their dragons trace the fish's movements with their heads with amusement.

"I talked to my dad." Hiccup said at last, sitting down next to Astrid.

She looked up at him but she could tell from the fact that his eyebrows came together slightly that he wasn't finished talking. She waited patiently.

"He says he broke it off." Hiccup finished, unsure of why he had paused in the first place.

"As in… we're not going to become siblings?" Astrid asked, brightening up considerably.

Hiccup shook his head, a silly grin on his face. At first, she was hesitant. She trusted her friend but she hardly dared believe that their parents weren't still snogging in private anymore. There was also the fact that the vision of her mother and Stoick tangled in each other would probably haunt her for years. But she overcame it in that instant and leaned forward. Hiccup inched closer to her and shut his eyes. He felt her lips meet his, tentatively at first but then, as though she had decided to pretend the events of the last 24 hours hadn't happened, she began to passionately kiss him, placing her arms around his neck. He lifted his arms and placed them around her waist and it was as though the two had decided that they had to make up for lost time.

They became lost in the embrace. Hiccup pulled away from the kiss and instead decided to kiss her neck. He figured that if he had to live with the mark she had left on his skin, he should at least return the favor. Astrid groaned in pleasure. Just as the two of them were starting to lose track of time…

_SPLASH!_

Water started to rain down on them, soaking them completely. They looked over at their dragons, who had both dived into the water after their prey, oblivious to the moment their owners were enjoying. For a few seconds, they stared at the dragons, slightly annoyed at being interrupted. Then Astrid let loose a giggle. Hiccup, enjoying the look of amusement on her face, began to chuckle along. Before they knew it, they were laughing harder than they ever had, tears streaming down their faces and their sides aching. The two dragons stopped fishing and bemusedly watched their owners fall over each other.

Finally, Astrid composed herself enough to speak. "I think I need to go home now. It's getting late."

"Yeah." Said Hiccup, wiping tears of mirth out of his eyes. "You're probably right. Come on, Toothless."

They stood up and mounted their dragons. Before they took off, they stared at each other for a moment, still smiling.

"I love you, Astrid." Hiccup said, evening the score at last.

Astrid winked at him and took off. Hiccup stayed on the ground for a while, watching the majestic movements of the Deadly Nadder as it disappeared into the horizon. Then, as soon as they were out of sight, he gently rubbed the top of Toothless' still soaking wet head.

"Come on, bud." He said, his heart leaping for joy. "Let's go home."


	9. Exposed

_You people are wonderful. Seriously wonderful. Over 40 favorites and follows and the number grows every day. I'm so overwhelmed with how popular this series is getting and the positive reviews I've gotten. I feel incredible! Thank you so much and don't forget to keep reviewing!_

_Anyway, I've made a decision regarding this series. In talking to the lovely __**Miss Pookamonga**__ the other day, she revealed something that is sure to horrify the Hiccstrid fandom: __**she HATES **__**Getting Used to It**__**. **__I know you all are absolutely shocked! I was too when I found out! But she had told me before I started this series that once you start writing fluffy Hiccstrid stuff, you start to get carried away. It begins this downward slope of sappiness until you can't get yourself out of it. They start acting out of character and you begin to just lose yourself in the process. I shrugged it off. Then I caught myself while writing __Shattered Defenses__ and realized I was doing exactly that. So I finished the arc I planned and decided to take a little time to go back to what I excel at: dialogue and staying in character._

_That doesn't mean my writing will suffer. That doesn't mean there won't be fluff. But I'm going to try not to take this so far that I create a __Breaking Point__ (i.e. a fic that is gorgeously written, emotionally driven, amazingly sappy, and completely out of character)._

_Please do not direct a bazillion PMs to Pooka asking her how she could possibly hate __Getting Used to It__ or something like that. If you want to show her support, go follow/favorite/review __The Honey and the Hatchet__, which she and I think is much better. Also I have a tendency to help her with that one and the plugs have been nice._

_But don't forget about this story! Thanks again for all the support!_

_~KateMarie999_

_P.S. TIME JUMP! This story takes place directly after __Heather Report Part 2__._

* * *

"Men are stupid and women are crazy, but women are mostly crazy because men are stupid"

* * *

**Exposed**

Night was beginning to fall over Berk but one girl and her dragon didn't much feel like turning in for the evening. Astrid knew that there was going to be a confrontation with Alvin but she also knew that, for now, all was well. She sat atop Stormfly as the last rays of the sun disappeared into the horizon and looked down on the village. The twinkling lights from candles and lamps looked beautiful and she was once again reminded that she would not be seeing them from this angle at all if not for Hiccup.

_Hiccup._

She found herself irritated at him again. Sure, they had been very friendly that afternoon and she did come to be quite fond of Heather but there was still something eating at her. Something about the way Hiccup had acted over the last few days bothered her a lot and it wasn't until she'd had a few hours alone with her dragon to figure out what it was.

Suddenly it became incredibly important to confront him on this issue _right that second._ She directed her dragon to land in front of the boy's house and immediately dismounted. After taking a moment to stroke Stormfly's head and assure the Deadly Nadder that she would be back, she bounded over to the door and knocked on it.

The enormous form of Stoick came into view. "Astrid, hello." he said jovially.

"Hi. Is Hiccup here?" she asked, feeling very impatient.

Stoick paused for a moment before answering. "Yes but…"

Astrid didn't need any more information. She quickly thanked him and pounded up the stairs to the younger Viking's room. Hiccup wasn't there. She immediately flew down the stairs and into the room in the back of the house where she knew he sometimes liked to draw. The moment she arrived, she realized exactly why Hiccup's father had advised her against visiting him in that moment.

There was an enormous tub in the middle of the room, its sides about two and a half feet high. Steam slowly emanated from the water within and the back of Hiccup's head and bare shoulders were visible above its sides.

For a moment, Astrid stood stock still, unsure of her next move. On the one hand, the tub's sides were certainly high enough that she was definitely not going to see anything below his waist unless he stood up, which he didn't seem likely to do anytime soon. On the other hand, she knew the second he saw her standing there, taking in the sight of more of his body than she'd ever seen, he would probably be incredibly embarrassed.

After considering both possibilities, she decided that she wanted to talk more than she wanted to preserve his dignity.

"Hi." she said pleasantly, as though she had casually seen him in the middle of the village.

He jumped so violently that some of the water spilled out of the tub. His head spun around and a look of horror crossed over his features.

"Astrid!" he cried, his voice shaking. "I'm… I'm _naked_!"

"Yes you are." she observed, working hard to stop herself from bursting out laughing at the sight of his face (and, if his shoulders were any clue, his entire body) growing red.

He ducked his face below the edges of the tub so that only his eyes and a few fingers were visible. She didn't move and after a few seconds, he caught on to the fact that she intended to stay put for the time being.

"So… umm… why are you here?" he asked, his voice muffled by the tub.

"We need to talk." she said in a rather businesslike manner.

"You know, Astrid, as much as I like our little chats, now isn't really the best time…" he said, his forehead continuing to redden.

"I don't know; you're in an awkward position which means we can talk for as long as I want without you being able to escape." she smiled mischievously.

His eyes darted around the room, searching for his clothes, and he realized that he'd disrobed several feet away from the tub, effectively making it impossible for him to reach them without giving Astrid an eyeful. He frowned and promised himself that if he ever got out of this with his dignity intact, he would _never_ take his clothes off again.

"Okay. What did you want to talk about?" he asked in an attempt to sound casual.

"Everything that happened with Heather." she said, crossing her arms and giving him a piercing gaze.

"Heather? What about her?" he crouched slightly lower into the tub.

"You have trust issues."

"Trust issues?" he exclaimed, suddenly indignant. "I trusted her right away! _You _have trust issues!"

Astrid laughed. "I'm not talking about _those_ kinds of trust issues. I'm talking about trusting someone you didn't even know. One day that's going to come back to bite you."

"Okay well…" Hiccup's eyes crinkled a little and Astrid figured he was probably smiling awkwardly at her. "Hopefully it won't bite me while I'm in the tub. It's been a nice chat but I really should get back to, you know, bathing."

Astrid didn't respond; she merely continued to stand and wordlessly stare at him.

"You're not done yet, are you?" he asked, lowering his face a little more until she could only see half of his eyes.

She shook her head, a small smile tugging on the edges of her mouth. Finally realizing that it was useless to get her to leave until she was finished talking, he decided on a new approach to dealing with her stares. He raised his head over the edge of the tub and reached an uncovered arm over to where he had placed the soap. He figured she would have seen his shoulders anyway so there was no point in hiding them anymore, though he still felt incredibly awkward. Perhaps if he could get his bath over with as quickly as possible, she would allow him to get dressed and then talk as though nothing had happened. Well… no, he would probably be completely embarrassed about this moment for the rest of his life.

"So why did you do it?" Astrid continued, pretending that she wasn't enjoying the sight of Hiccup squirming uncomfortably so that she couldn't see anything below his shoulders. He was probably begging the gods to make sure she didn't venture any closer to the tub.

"Why did I do what?" he asked as he rubbed the soap on his back as best he could.

"Why did you take one look at Heather, a complete stranger, and decide she was trustworthy?"

He froze mid scrub. "Well… she looked… I mean she said… well I thought maybe… I don't know, Astrid. I guess I just wanted to trust her so I did."

She nodded. "Ahh of course. Hiccup… would you walk around Berk exactly as you are right now?"

His eyes widened. "You mean _naked_? No, of course not!"

"I see. So why do you do it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why do I… Astrid, unless I have gigantic lapses in memory, I've _never_ walked around naked before!" The idea made his face turn scarlet.

Astrid shook her head. "I don't mean _literally_. I mean you blindly trust everyone you meet. You share all your secrets. It's like you walk around naked because you never hide anything."

Hiccup shook his head and ducked slightly lower, obscuring his shoulders once again. "Oh I definitely hide stuff."

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean _that_ kind of stuff. But… okay remember when I first met Toothless?"

"I'm still trying to forget parts of it."

She was suddenly gripped with the urge to playfully smack him but the thought of taking a step closer to the tub and possibly seeing a little bit more of his body, thus taking away even more of his dignity, was enough to hold her back.

"Well you weren't willing to show him to me at first, I'll give you that, but the second I saw him, you pretty much told me everything. You trusted me not to go tell anyone. And it's not like we were best friends at the time." Astrid explained, staring pointedly at him. "I mean you were lucky that I didn't tell anyone but that was a huge risk. And with Heather, you didn't even know her and you were spilling out your secrets left and right."

"Well it all worked out anyway." Hiccup said as he attempted to wash his legs without raising them over the sides of the tub (a very difficult feat).

"Did it, Hiccup? Did it really?" she asked, crossing her arms and still staring at him unblinkingly.

There was a very uncomfortable pause. Hiccup slowly turned to face her and immediately wished he hadn't; her gaze was _incredibly_ intimidating. He felt like a child being berated for some sort of misdeed. He didn't like the feeling at all.

"I… I don't know." he said at last. "I can't figure out whether or not that question was rhetorical…"

She narrowed her eyes, which caused him to notice that their calming blue, to which he had grown accustomed, had suddenly turned ice cold. He shivered a bit, despite the pleasantly warm temperature of the water in which he was immersed.

"It wasn't." she said as she continued to stare at him. "But the correct answer is no, it didn't work out with her. I mean yes, we got her parents back and yes, we managed to save the Dragon Book but we nearly got ourselves killed in the process. And all of that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't just assumed she was fine and given her all our secrets!"

For the first time since Astrid had caused this incredibly embarrassing moment, Hiccup completely forgot his present location as he was gripped with sudden irritation.

"What should I have done? Lock her up and interrogate her?" he asked in a slightly higher register than he had intended.

"It's what I would have done!" Astrid replied quite seriously.

"And a year ago, you'd have killed Toothless without a second thought!" Hiccup exclaimed, nearly shouting now. "If you haven't noticed, Astrid, maybe trusting someone isn't such a horrible idea!"

"Fine." said Astrid, smirking now but speaking quite calmly. "If you think everyone's as trustworthy as you say, stand up."

"_What?_"

"Stand up." she repeated. "I mean… why hide anything?"

"Astrid that's not the… I mean I can't just… I've never…" Hiccup buried his face in his hands, seemingly unable to form any new words.

"Oh come on, Hiccup, I'm sure with all the riding you've done, you've got quite a few muscles now. Why not show them off?" She knew she was taking a terrible risk now but she also knew she was winning the argument so it was a risk with taking.

"This conversation is making me feel very uncomfortable." he said through his fingers.

"Ahh so you're not comfortable sharing your secrets with me? You don't trust me?" she asked, cocking her head to the side and giving him what she knew to be an irresistible smile.

"I do, I just… well not with this kind of… it's not really the same thing!" Hiccup said, finally looking up at her and immediately regretting it.

The hilarity of the situation finally overcame Astrid and before she could stop herself, she doubled over, laughing so hard she felt as though her sides would burst open. Hiccup watched her bemusedly. When she finally straightened back up, wiping tears of mirth out of her eyes, he raised an eyebrow.

"What's so funny?" he asked, completely confused.

"It's just… you!" Astrid guffawed. "The way you reacted when I said that. You're _so_ predictable!"

"I… I… what?"

She had to stop herself from doubling over again at the adorableness of the utterly bewildered look he was giving her.

"Look, you just proved my point. There are some things you have to hide, at least until the time is right to reveal them. And you obviously have no idea when that is." she said at last, shaking her head knowingly.

He finally lowered his head in shame. "It's not really the same thing…"

Astrid smirked. "You're right. If you'd walked around naked, none of this would have happened. I mean plenty of _other _things would have happened…"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Hiccup exclaimed, holding up a hand as though that would somehow make Astrid stop talking. "Building up trust takes time. Don't reveal all my secrets. Don't walk around naked. Can I get out of the bathtub now or are you just going to stand there staring at me for the next few hours?"

Astrid took a deep breath. "Yes, you can get out of the tub."

She spun around on her heel and walked out of the room. She didn't win very many arguments with her friend so she was feeling particularly proud of herself. She heard a splashing noise as Hiccup finally emerged from the tub and gave him a few seconds to get dressed. She then turned around and entered the room once more.

She hadn't waited long enough. She immediately took a second to thank the gods that Hiccup had at least put his pants on. He had his back to her, reaching down to grab his shirt. Astrid's insides suddenly felt hot and she had to stop herself from gasping in surprise. She had been joking when she told him that he probably had new muscles thanks to all the riding, but now that she saw his bare back and chest, she realized that the riding _had_ paid off. Where there had likely been only skin and bones before, toned muscles were emerging from his shoulders. The droplets of water still clinging to his bare chest seemed to sparkle in the candlelight and define his developing muscles even more. She mentally berated herself for ogling but she couldn't seem to stop herself. This wasn't the boy she had known almost her entire life. While she had been ignoring him and writing him off as a clumsy fool, the boy had become a man.

A man who suddenly became aware of her presence.

"Astrid!" he cried, raising his hands up to cover his exposed chest. "What… how… why would you _do_ that?"

He threw his shirt on as fast as he could and she was amused to note that, in his haste, he had put it on inside-out. Once again, she suppressed the urge to laugh. Now that she had seen him without it, the shirt seemed to define the muscles beneath instead of hide them. She caught herself wondering how she had never noticed it before. It wasn't as though she didn't steal glances at him when he wasn't looking…

"I just wanted to finish our conversation." she said, acting as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

"I thought we _had_ finished it!" he exclaimed, feeling like hiding again even though he was now clothed.

"So we're not going to talk about what we'll be teaching everyone tomorrow at the academy?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

He lifted his hand and began to scratch the back of his head. "Right… the academy… can you give me a minute? And don't… don't walk in, I'll let you know… okay?"

"Of course." Astrid said as innocently as she could.

He gave her a lopsided sort of grin which she figured was probably his vain attempt to diffuse the tension. She turned away and began to walk toward the door, all the while trying to force herself to forget just how embarrassingly erotic it had been to see her friend shirtless moments before. When she got to the door, she turned around to face him.

"You know, Hiccup…" she said, thinking hard about how to phrase her next few words.

"Hm?" he asked, looking up at her.

They stared at each other for a fraction of a second. He had apparently not trusted her to keep her eyes away from him until she had left so his shirt was still clinging to his chest, defining the muscles even more. At last, Astrid found just the right words to use.

"For what it's worth, I don't think you have _any_ reason to be embarrassed."

And with that, she turned away and immediately walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Hiccup stared at the closed door for a whole minute, his mouth slightly agape. Then, as the impact of her words finally sank in, he felt his face grow hot but couldn't stop himself from smiling. He looked down at his chest, how his slowly developing muscles seemed to bulge out of his wet shirt, and began to consider wearing slightly tighter shirts in the future.

If only to get Astrid to look at him that way once more.


	10. Starlight

_Sorry I haven't updated in forever! For those of you who don't know, a one-shot I began here turned into an entire story. You can find it on my profile. It's called __Unexpected__ and there's already plenty of Hiccstrid sap! I've got five chapters up and they've been well received so when you finish this, go over to read that one if you haven't already! Miss Pookamonga and I are discussing collaborating on the first ever fluff fic for a certain couple. We won't say which one except that it's not slash and we totally support it. _

_Anyway, the Defenders of Berk episode from 2 weeks ago was just… GAH I loved it! It might be my favorite episode yet! But there was one question I kept bringing up every time I discussed it with everyone and I'm going to address it here._

_So without further ado, enjoy and please remember to leave a review!_

_~KateMarie999_

* * *

**Starlight**

The sky was dark and the stars rather bright but Hiccup and Astrid were in no hurry to get home. Few others were still outside at this time of night, especially since Arvendole's Fire was over, but the youths felt tired from their long night of rescuing Berk from the Flightmare. They seemed to do a _lot_ of rescuing Berk these days. Not that they minded but it was rather exhausting. They leaned back against their dragons, which were fast asleep, and stared at the night sky for a while, enjoying each other's company but not saying anything.

Hiccup looked over at Astrid and caught himself before be gasped out loud. The reflections of the stars in her eyes made them pop in a way he had never seen before. There was a certain radiant quality that Astrid only got at this time of night. He had glimpsed it a few times before but now that he saw it in its full glory, he felt as though he couldn't look away anymore. So he continued to stare, hoping she would keep her eyes fixed on the sky so he could take in every detail. The way her nose turned up slightly but not too much. The way her hair, loosened by the days activities, cascaded down her back. The way her lips were slightly wide in what could be construed as almost a smile. The way her skin almost seemed to glow in the starlight. She was hypnotically beautiful.

And she had just noticed him gawking at her.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"Nothing." he said far too quickly, immediately averting his eyes.

"Ahh. Of course. You sure look at _nothing_ a lot… even when you think it doesn't notice." she brushed her bangs out of her eyes but they immediately fell back.

"Yeah… I do. Sorry." he shrugged as he felt his face growing warmer.

"Must be one of those things you think about when you're not thinking about dragon training." she winked at him.

So she remembered that little slip-up, had she? It was going to be a long time before he lived that down. She smiled as she watched him squirm uncomfortably.

"You know, Hiccup, what you did for my family was really nice." she continued as though she hadn't paused to entertain herself with his awkwardness.

"What I… what did I do?" he asked, glad to finally have an excuse to look at her again.

"You know what you did. You told everyone on Berk what really happened to my uncle. I appreciate that. We Hoffersons appreciate that." she said, scooting closer to him so she could nudge him with her arm.

"You'd have done the same for me, I'm sure." he replied, surprised he didn't stutter considering how fast his heart was beating.

"I don't know. You're very loyal. And I'm not. Not really, I mean." she shook her head. "You're so nice all the time. Sometimes I wish I could be like that. And other times you're _too _nice."

"If this is about what happened with Torch and Heather…"

"Only a little bit. But you seem to have moved past that once it came back to bite you." she chuckled. "Maybe now you'll learn that building up trust takes time."

"I vividly remember the first time you said that. As much as I'd like to, I'm never going to forget it now." his face burned.

"Ah yes, that was an interesting day. But even though you have this tendency to be too nice, I still kind of admire you for it." she admitted as she slowly placed her hand on top of his.

His heart stopped beating for a second and then raced uncomfortably. Her hand was _freezing_ but she was touching him! He took a deep breath and looked back up at her.

"Why do you admire it?" he asked, trying not to smile _too _widely at this compliment.

"Well people treat you differently. I don't know, they respect you."

"They respect you too…"

"They're _scared _of me."

Hiccup laughed. "Maybe a little. But isn't that what you want?"

"I guess so but people respect you without the threat of getting cut to pieces by my axe." Astrid smiled as she affectionately patted the handle of the axe lying next to her.

"Yeah, when you put it that way… not that it's a bad thing, of course. I guess we're just different." His hand squirmed slightly under hers, uncomfortably conflicted because her hand was cold but he didn't want to stop touching her.

"I guess one perk of being… _me_ is that I can easily take advantage of you." She turned to look at him and he immediately looked down at his knees.

"Oh really?" he asked.

"Yes really. You let me bring my axe to observe the Flightmare. Did you ever ask yourself why I wanted to bring it?"

He shook his head. "I didn't want to. I guess I figured if it attacked, you'd save our lives."

"Oh Hiccup, Hiccup, Hiccup… always so naïve." she sighed.

"Well the thought that you intended to attack the Flightmare instead of listening to my instructions did cross my mind…" he admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"But you were too scared of saying that out loud. Typical Hiccup." she nudged him with her elbow again.

"Not scared…" he protested. "You just seemed so enthusiastic. That's why I made sure you understood me."

"Just because I understood you didn't mean I was going to listen to you." she chortled.

"Yes well, I know that _now_." he shook his head. "Still, everything worked out."

"Yeah they did. I just wish my uncle could seen it. He was my favorite uncle, you know. Always treated me really well considering…" she suddenly cleared her throat. "It's really late."

Hiccup knew exactly what subject she was evading but he also knew that to press the issue would result in a few bruises. He watched her stand up and gently awaken her dragon.

"You going in?" she asked as she watched her dragon stand up and stretch.

"In a few minutes." he replied, looking back up at the sky.

"Okay well thanks for what you said." She stood for a moment, frozen to the spot almost as if she'd been hit by the Flightmare's mist again.

They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, very quickly, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Before he found his voice, she walked away with her dragon.

Hiccup slowly lifted a hand and touched the place where she had kissed him. He could still feel her soft lips against his skin if he shut his eyes. He smiled, his heartbeat racing even faster, and snuggled into his dragon. Perhaps tonight would be a good night to sleep under the stars.

* * *

_I've had some complaints about the inability to post a review because of the deletion of several chapters of this story. If you left one for the previous Chapter 10 (entitled Handicapped Part 1, which can be found in Unexpected now) please delete the review and leave one for this chapter or just PM me. I really appreciate it._


	11. Body Heat

_Well hello there! Despite this series' popularity, I've gotten caught up in other projects and before I knew it, it had been NINE DAYS and I hadn't even started the next one-shot. Shame on me! The funny thing is, I've been planning this one for a few days after getting a request from __**Bright Eyes Illusionist**__. So now is the time to write! My deepest apologies for the lateness. Special thanks to __**Miss Pookamonga**__ because I read some of the stuff she wrote and it improved my descriptions (we're each other's secret weapon)._

_I got a question for my male fans of this story. Please PM me if you're a guy and don't mind answering it._

_~KateMarie999_

**Body Heat**

Hiccup was excited.

No, excited wasn't the right word. Deliriously happy perhaps? Euphoric? Something along those lines. Astrid Hofferson had finally decided to go out with him. Alone. No dragons. No twins or Snotlout or Fishlegs. Completely and utterly alone with him. And he was trembling with nerves now.

_Get a grip, Hiccup,_ he thought furiously. _You've known Astrid your whole life._

But this was different. After years of tension and random kisses that they would pretend never happened, he had finally gotten up the courage to ask Astrid on a proper date and she had said _yes_. The most beautiful word in the world.

He had been so excited, he hadn't been able to form proper words and so he'd said something along the lines of "AiiiieeeeegaaaahhhREALLY?" which had caused Astrid to fall over laughing. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting but it wasn't a yes. Definitely not a yes. He had steeled himself against a no and had prepared for a maybe but a yes? He hadn't considered that.

And after a whole week of planning it was finally time. Hiccup had taken a bath the previous night (after pushing a few objects against the door to keep out surprise visitors) and had tried combing his hair in a way that looked more presentable. But his hair was stubborn and had fallen to its normal style no matter what he did with it. And then he'd done his best to wash his clothes. This resulted in an emergency dyeing of his green shirt, which had turned white when he realized, too late, that he'd used the wrong kind of soap on it. Then he'd had to wash it again. It smelled quite potent now that it had been washed twice but at least it was a somewhat pleasant smell.

And now Astrid would be there any minute. Hiccup help up a hand and was somewhat amused to notice that it was noticeably shaking. He exchanged looks with his dragon, who had been watching his owner's nervous energy over the last few hours.

"This is it, Toothless." he said, gently stroking the Night Fury's neck. "Astrid and I… me and Astrid… we're actually doing something official. Maybe romantic. Does my breath smell okay?"

Toothless gave him an exasperated look and Hiccup felt slightly embarrassed for voicing that last question. The dragon lay down and lazily watched the unfolding scene. Hiccup jumped up and began to pace back and forth, clasping his hands behind his back.

And then he heard a knock at the door. For a moment, he was frozen, unable to do anything at all. Then he couldn't stop himself from moving. He shot over to the door, took a second to compose himself, and opened it.

And then his body turned to lead. His heart stopped beating. He was unable to draw breath. Because there, a foot away from him, was the most beautiful sight in the world. Astrid looked almost as though she was glowing. Her hair was mostly down with a small section tied back to keep her bangs out of her face (this was completely ineffective as several strands of hair still fell in front of her eyes) and her lovely golden hair cascaded down her back and over her shoulders. Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled with excitement. Her smooth, pink lips stretched into a small smile.

"Hey." she said breathlessly, almost as if she had been ogling a bit as well.

"Hey." Hiccup replied with the tiny bit of breath he had left.

He took a few steps aside to allow the radiant woman to step forward into the house. She seemed to light up the surroundings, waves of pulchritude emanating from her and making Hiccup feel warm inside.

And it wasn't just Hiccup who was feeling this way. Astrid wasn't sure what it was about the gangly young man who had appeared at the door that took her breath away but the mystery was something that didn't concern her at the moment. As long as she always felt that way when he was around, she would be happy. He gave her his trademark lopsided smile and she knew he was gawking at her as much as she was gawking at him. This thought was simultaneously more and less awkward than the thought of only one of them staring at the other, heart racing and breaths coming in short gasps.

For a few moments which felt like ages, they simply drank in the vision of each other. Of course they had seen each other all over the village for years but now that there was an element of intentional romance, it was completely different.

Astrid snapped herself out of her reverie first. "So what did you have planned?" she asked.

Hiccup's mouth opened but no sound came out. Well, that wasn't strictly true. There was a faint squeaking coming from this throat but he couldn't seem to find his voice. Astrid, overwhelmed with how adorable this was, decided to save him.

"Well let's see… there's blankets, a basket of food… were you going to take us on a picnic? At night?"

Hiccup's voice finally came back. "Yes!" he shouted far too loudly, almost as if his voice had been building in his throat before bursting through. He coughed awkwardly. "I mean yeah. I was thinking of camping out and watching the Star Shower."

The Star Shower was a strange kind of phenomenon that happened on Berk a few times a year in which one could watch a bunch of shooting stars falling in the sky for a few minutes on one specific end of the island. It had been quite convenient that it was time for another one at that very moment. Astrid looked delighted at this prospect and, scooping up the blankets and allowing Hiccup to pick up the basket, she smiled at him.

"Well then let's go." she said, taking his hand in hers and leading them out of the door.

The trek to the part of the island in which the Star Shower was most visible took nearly an hour. Rather than talk to each other, Hiccup and Astrid felt like simply enjoying each other's company. There was no need for words. Hiccup held Astrid's hand tightly in his, marveling at how warm he felt all over, not just in the hand, despite the bitter coldness of the weather outside. A few flurries of snow were sprinkling down on them when they finally arrived at the field in which the Star Shower was most visible. They were quite pleased to find themselves alone there.

"Didn't know you were such a romantic." Astrid said as she spread out the blanket.

Hiccup shrugged. "I try." he said.

He lay down on the blanket, not feeling the least bit hungry, and stretched out, excitedly waiting for the Star Shower to begin. Astrid stared at him for a moment before joining him. The look of peace and pure bliss on his face was intoxicating. Though if she didn't join him soon, he'd probably give those big, sad eyes and she would melt right then and there. She snuggled into him, allowing his body heat to warm her on the outside (goodness knows she was warm enough on the inside). He gently tightened his hold on her shoulders and didn't even notice his arm steadily growing numb.

The Star Shower began with a tiny little star shooting suddenly into the dark sky. Astrid smiled and snuggled closer to Hiccup as a few more stars flew through the sky. Their breaths rose lazily and blew away in the light breeze, slightly obscuring the spectacle. They were beginning to get a bit cold by the end of the Shower and so they huddled together as they packed up their stuff at last.

Neither Viking knew much about this end of the island. In fact, most people avoided it. There was a strange chill that sometimes hung over it and on nights without Star Showers, no one came near that field. Hiccup never knew why this was the case but he didn't want to hang around and find out.

Inevitably, this was the night both he and Astrid discovered the reason people avoided this section of the island. Just as they were nearly finished packing up their things, they felt the ground shake beneath them.

"What was that?" Astrid asked him.

Hiccup looked around and saw nothing in particular. The atmosphere was getting colder by the second.

"I don't know. We better get out of…"

He wasn't able to finish that sentence. This was partially because he was interrupted and partially because the interruption was so surprising that he wouldn't have been able to string any words together at all.

A monstrous dragon, about the size of a Boneknapper, towered before them. Its scales were an icy blue color and its eyes nearly glowing white. It was covered in what looked like icicles and it did _not_ look happy. Hiccup and Astrid prepared themselves for its fiery breath but it never came. Instead it breathed what appeared to be half frozen water. It missed them by inches but the dragon still continued to chase them, letting out a deafening roar.

"Holy _Thor_, what is that thing?" Astrid shrieked, running as fast as she could toward the trees.

"Whatever it is, I don't want to find out now!" Hiccup shouted back as they finally reached the trees.

The dragon stopped chasing them and began to walk around the field again. Not at all certain as to why the dragon was so protective of the field, they edged back and realized, with a jolt, that they had run in the wrong direction.

The forest that led back to Berk was on the opposite end of the field. A glacier obscured one end while a steep cliff ended it on the other. They were trapped in an unfamiliar forest and there was no way they would get past such a large dragon without their own dragons to help them. And, naturally, they had left their supplies in the field. For a moment, they silently stared at the irritated dragon.

"We are _so _stupid." Astrid said at last, voicing exactly Hiccup's thoughts as well.

"Not going to argue with you there." he replied, rubbing his arms to keep warm.

"We're going to have to sleep out here and hope the dragon is gone by morning. Think it's nocturnal? It looks nocturnal… I hope." Astrid muttered just loud enough for Hiccup to hear.

He wasn't really sure how something could look nocturnal but it wasn't the right time to ask such a trivial question. They had to explore the forest, perhaps find someplace to sleep. Maybe some firewood.

Hiccup marveled as Astrid, true to form, pulled no less than _six_ daggers from her person.

"Where do you keep them all?" he asked his friend, who smirked at him and didn't answer.

She handed Hiccup a good sized dagger and used the biggest one to cut down branches so that they could light a fire. They worked silently, always keeping each other within earshot. For some reason, neither wanted to stray too far from the other. Perhaps it was the near death experience they'd had but they were feeling a bit jumpy and their companionship kept them calm. They periodically checked the field but, to their great dismay, the dragon had curled up right in the middle and they were unsure of whether or not it was asleep.

"Dad's going to kill me." Hiccup muttered as he chopped down a branch in one swift movement. "Out all night with you, I don't even want to think about where his mind is going to go."

To his great surprise, Astrid seemed to find this comment hilarious. He glanced at her, eyebrow raised, as she doubled over and clutched her stomach, trying to keep her laughter quiet.

"It's just… it's you. I don't think he's got anything to worry about. And the idea of… I'm sorry, it's not _that_ funny." she said, wiping tears of mirth out of her eyes.

"Hey, what woman wouldn't want a chance to have all of… all of _this_?" Hiccup winked at her as he gestured to his gangly body.

"Cave." said Astrid, looking over his shoulder.

"I… what?"

"We can sleep in the cave." she pointed and he turned around to find himself facing a small cave.

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. At first he was certain she was making some sort of derogatory comment about him but he wasn't sure how it connected to caves. This made a lot more sense.

"Right. Yes, the cave. It's going to be freezing." he said without thinking.

They looked at each other and a sort of light clicked on in both of their heads. In order to survive this, they were going to have to cuddle. And not like they'd done in front of the stars, oh no, they were going to have to depend on each other for survival. Hiccup tried to smile but it came across as even more lopsided than usual. Even though he was quite smitten with the girl, he didn't want to get too intimate too soon. Then again, this was survival, not romance. Or was it?

"I know what you're thinking." Astrid said, picking up the firewood she had collected. "It's not like that."

"Like… oh no… no, not like… not at all." Hiccup stammered, picking up his firewood letting her enter the cave first.

"It's just survival."

"Of course."

"Means nothing."

"Nothing at all."

"Okay then."

They stared at each other for a few seconds before they dropped the firewood onto the ground and began to attempt to light a fire. Their hands were numb by the time the fire finally sparked to life. For a while, they watched the flickering flames in silence, feeling incredibly awkward. As far as first dates went, this one was certainly memorable.

"Sorry this didn't work out." Hiccup said at last, still staring into the flames.

Astrid punched him on the shoulder.

"Ow! Why would you do that?" he exclaimed, rubbing the now bruised area of his skin.

"Hiccup, if there's one thing I know about you, it's that things tend to go wrong when you're around." Astrid grinned at the look of confusion he was giving her. "But even when they do go wrong, it makes for an interesting story. Why should tonight be any different?"

Hiccup realized with a start that he had been holding his breath. He exhaled through his teeth, creating a soft hissing noise.

"Well one day everything is going to go right. Just once. Maybe." he replied, tentatively lifting an arm to place around her shoulders.

"I hope not. It's one of the things I like about you." Astrid whispered.

She gently lowered her head onto his shoulder, which irritated the bruise she had just left. He barely registered the pain. His heart skipped a beat. Or maybe two. He wasn't sure his heart was beating at all. Wait… there it was, thudding loudly in his eardrums. Astrid could hear it and she found it quite soothing. She thought back to when they had been cuddling right after Thawfest, when he had blurted out that he loved her. She had nearly fallen asleep on him then too. She hoped he wouldn't express a similar sentiment now. She was just getting comfortable and she needed his body heat to survive. She had no choice but to stay with him no matter how awkward things got.

"Astrid…"

Oh boy. Here it came. Astrid steeled herself against the wave of discomfort that would soon wash over her. _Please don't let him say anything stupid, please, Thor, just this once…_

"Sweet dreams."

Astrid smiled and closed her eyes. The fire's warmth was very comfortable but heat radiating off of Hiccup made her feel safe. And, just as she was thinking about how wonderful she felt, she drifted off to sleep, dreaming things she wouldn't dare tell him for a long, long time.

Astrid's breathing became slower and Hiccup could tell that she had fallen asleep. Very slowly, he lowered her head onto his lap so that she could be even more comfortable. She looked so beautiful in the firelight. He had never noticed how long her eyelashes were but now he saw them, he felt his heart melt a little bit at how lovely she looked with her eyes shut. He had always loved the cool blue color of her eyes but this was different. This look of serenity was rare for her and, in that moment, he promised himself that he would work as hard as he could to make sure she always had a reason to be safe. Because that was his job. And it was the most wonderful job in the world.

* * *

It wasn't as though he needed to sleep. Aside from dozing off a few times, Hiccup remained vigilant so that Astrid would sleep soundly without any interruptions. To his great surprise, nothing came to interrupt them at all during the night. He kept the fire going as long as he could and then, just as the sun was rising over the clouds, he gently shook her awake.

"Just a few more minutes, Stormfly." Astrid groaned.

She reached down to pull the nonexistent blankets over her head. Instead she grabbed Hiccup's hand. Her eyes shot open.

"You're not Stormfly." she said, looking up at Hiccup in surprise. "What are you doing in my room? Wait… I'm not in my room…"

And then she remembered the previous night. She quickly let go of his hand, smiling at the thought of how ridiculous she had probably sounded.

"Sorry, Hiccup." she slowly sat up. "Were you able to sleep?"

Hiccup grinned at her. "Don't worry about me. I don't need sleep."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Hiccup…"

"Don't fret, Astrid, I'll take a nap when I get home." he watched her stand up and took her hand when she extended it to him.

"Right well let's hope that ice dragon has left its field." Astrid whispered to him and they tiptoed out of the cave.

The dragon was gone, thankfully, but their supplies were destroyed. Ignoring the growling in their stomachs, they took a few steps forward when they were violently startled.

"There you are!" They looked up to see Stoick atop Thornado, looking down at them. "Been looking for you all morning. Where were you?"

"We got a bit trapped." said Hiccup, feeling a bit dizzy from lack of sleep.

"We're fine." Astrid continued. "Though a ride home would be nice."

Stoick gave them a very firm look before allowing them to climb onto his dragon's back. "Don't do that again, son. Especially not with a woman."

"Nothing happened, dad…"

"I mean it."

Hiccup threw up his hands. "Okay, okay, I get it."

Thornado deposited Hiccup and Astrid in the middle of the village a few minutes later. They looked at each other.

"Well that was fun." Astrid said, now focusing on his shoulder instead of his face.

Hiccup bit his lip. "Yeah it was."

They were silent again, now not meeting each other's gaze. Astrid took a deep breath.

"We should do this again sometime."

Hiccup's heart began its loud drumming against his ears now but he tried to act casual. "Yes we should. Well…"

"Well…"

"See you later, Astrid." He said, beginning to turn away from her.

Astrid immediately grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. When it was over, she smiled at how wide his eyes had become.

"I'll see you around, Hiccup."

And with that, she spun around on her heel and walked away. Hiccup watched her retreating form, forcing himself to _not_ stare at her too hard, and felt as though all the air in his lungs suddenly vanished. And then, without noticing he was doing it, he began to skip merrily all the way home.


End file.
